September 2013 SACP Eastern Cape on WSU crisis As the South African Communist Party (SACP) in the Eastern Cape Province, we wish to welcome all efforts that are aimed at resolving the Walter Sisulu University (WSU) crisis. However it is our considered view that all processes must seek to give necessary support to the negotiations underway as guided by the labour relations framework. We believe that any parallel process will risk collapsing the labour relations framework which will not be in the long term interests of the labour movement or the stability of our country. We have equally noted various comments attacking the Minister of the Department Higher Education and Training (DHET) who is the General Secretary of our party and the reported vote of no confidence from the meeting held at the University yesterday. We view some of the comments as anti – communist sentiments disguised as genuine voice representing the plight of the University. We wish to bring to the attention of the public the following: The Minister did not just appoint the Administrator but was called upon by the stakeholders in the University including the workers and the students; when the situation was in crisis level with workers not getting their salaries and third parties not being paid. It is at this point when the SACP in the province was approached on many occasions to support the efforts on securing workers’ salaries and meeting with the Director General of the Department of Higher Education and Training which led to the relative stability with workers’ salaries secured and an Administrator appointed. As the SACP, we are concerned that not once were we contacted as usual to engage on the situation only learnt about it when tempers were already high and coupled with insults against the leadership of the SACP. We find this to be very unfair as no one denies the resources pumped into the University under the leadership of Comrade Blade Nzimande, who is not the Minister of WSU but the Minister of DHET with many challenges, a sector still protected by the so called institutional autonomy. It was in front of us all in the province that WSU was in crisis and Comrade Blade Nzimande intervened as the Minister. All we can do is to request him working with all parties to ensure a speedy resolution of the crisis; it was lack of confidence in ourselves that we called him to appoint an administrator not the other way round. We support the appointment of an independent accountant as agreed in the meeting as held at the James Calata House (ANC Provincial Office) so that everybody in the University community is exposed on the state of finances of the University and contribution by the DHET so far and how those resources were utilised. Issued by the SACP Eastern Cape. Contact: Siyabonga Mdodi SACP EC Provincial Spokesperson 083 358 8070
Posted on: Tue, 03 Sep 2013 09:48:45 +0000
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