Tshwane North FET College under administration: progress report

Meeting report

The Chairperson noted that Tshwane North College had been placed under administration and welcomed presenters from Tshwane North College (TNC) and officials from the Department of Higher Education (DHET) who were present to present a progress report.

Tshwane North FET College progress report
The administrator, Dr Chris Brink, apologised for not having attended the previous briefing meeting. He explained that he had urgently been summoned to meet with the Department after unrest on campus.  He said that TNC had a central office in Pretoria and six campuses. Originally, before merging, there had been four colleges (in 2006/7). Staff had been moved between positions without due process during the merger. Since that time, no principal had lasted longer than 18 months. The administrator had arrived when the current principal was in office but the administrator could not engage with her because of issues identified in the Auditor-General’s forensic report.

A particular union was extremely militant, and had disrupted teaching and learning and had carried out illegal strikes. The Student Representative Council (SRC) had been unwilling to disband after its term of office had ended. A culture of disrespect and lack of discipline had destabilised the institution. Disciplinary action against some students, which had been in progress, was deferred until after examinations. Whatever corrective measures were taken had to be effective and therefore had to be taken carefully. A consultative, but not necessarily consensual, method was being used.

Dr Brink reluctantly used the term ‘third force’ to describe an element which had an interest in the institution not functioning. For instance, there would be much staff absenteeism. These kinds of disruptions originated at the South Campus and spread. Issues with bursary payments were a common trigger. There were usually problems processing these because forms were incomplete and/or fraudulent. Students protested about non-payment, some lecturers instigated the protests because they did not want to lecture. The SRC was unhappy about this and had promised a list of names of lecturers who advocated that students protest. Lecturers’ unverified claims were also a problem and consumed an inordinate amount of time. ‘Elements’ in management also supported the culture which destabilised the institution. Dr Brink was confident that the forensic report would lead to charges against these elements and bring some closure to the practice.

Ms Queen Ndlovu, TNC Administrative Support: Technical, said she was responsible for the teaching and learning portfolio at the TNC and had worked with Mr Martin Loots, the previous administrator, and currently with Dr Brink. Standardisation across all campuses had been achieved by identifying common tasks for assessment. Test results had been analysed to identify lecturers needing support and Ms Ndlovu had visited campuses to support these lecturers but this had been disrupted by union activity. All but South Campus had taken a common ‘mini exam’ and textbooks had been standardised as far as possible (but much textbook delivery was under control of the national Department of Higher Education and Training. Some large publishers did not want to be on the suppliers database because of the lack of supply chain management (SCM).

Shortly before mid-year examinations, it had been determined that about R3m would be needed for computers but these could not be bought because there was no supply chain management (SCM). Exco had averted this crisis in the short term by fixing the existing computers for R150 000.

The Department had approved the draft attendance policy and students who did not attend 80% of classes would be deregistered in 2014.

Lecturers were severely hampered by a lack of resources and so the academic board had accepted that there should be ‘mini resource centres’ on each campus. These had very recently been established. Certain heads of departments had been selected to be curriculum delivery leaders but again, unions had objected to this ‘handpicking’. The posts had then been advertised internally, but were criticised as ‘elitist’.

The academic board had approved the turnaround strategy, including a more selective admissions policy. A central office monitored lecturer performance. Disciplinary action was taken against non-compliant lecturers. Unaccredited programmes caused problems when graduates could not find employment and this was being addressed.

TNC was over-enrolled, which was the biggest challenge – over 4 000 more than had been intended. The ICT department had caused this because there were too many key users (seven) and lecturers could override the system. More students meant more classes, and therefore more benefits for lecturers. This had been addressed: there was one administrator and lecturers could not register students. Overall, the culture of non-compliance among lecturers, administrative and finance staff was being addressed and discipline was being enforced. The pass, dropout and certification rates were provided.

Ms Priya Prakasim, TNC Administrative Support: Human Resources said that staff who had been moved without due process had been returned to their original posts. Outstanding payments had been made and the personnel payments system had been stabilised. All employees had files, and their contents were being verified. A Corporate Services Deputy Director was being appointed. Skills gaps would be identified through the Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS) and the Performance Management Development System (PDMS), which, previously, had been a ‘paper exercise’.

Ms Prakasim echoed Ms Ndlovu’s comments about resistance to change from labour. An ICT manager had to be appointed as there was a severe skills shortage in that area. The administrative department was collating findings from the forensic report and making recommendations about the charges to be brought. Many senior lecturers were implicated and the public prosecutor’s demands were being met.

Mr Sathia Govender, TNC Administrative Support: Finance, spoke about three broad areas: achievements, the management plan and the cash flow forecast. All payments had been frozen but creditor payments had been normalised. A service provider had threatened to attach TNC’s assets but this threat had been averted by this measure. Relations with the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) were now good. There was a need to reduce resources costs from the current 80% to the normal 63% and this was on track. Operational costs would shortly drop steeply when current contracts came to an end. Mr Govender was confident that public private partnerships and the Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) would alleviate shortfalls.

In the 2010 and 2011 financial statements, figures had been misstated. These numbers were now being restated. The current financial statements were with the Auditor-General.

Ms Ndlovu said that a strategic planning session, to align TNC goals with national goals, had been begun and would shortly be completed. All the above goals would be met within three, six or 12 months.

Discussion
Dr L Bosman (DA) asked why it had taken so long to realise how bad the situation was as it appeared that nothing at TNC was functional. Was the union involvement at management level? Staff who had mismanaged and been implicated in corruption were still in their posts one year later. Perhaps Soshanguve campus should be temporarily closed? He thanked the presenters for their openness. It seemed evident that the merger had not been managed properly. Why had the Department not sorted it out earlier? Illegal strikes were unacceptable. The administrator needed support but key personnel were against him. How could the Committee support him? He was pleased that finances were well managed and cash flow was healthy.

Ms D Chili (ANC) said that the union had not presented its side. She was puzzled by enrolment and staff figures, which varied widely during the different presentations.

Mr C Moni (ANC) asked whether there had been an audit committee, and, if so, what it had done when financial statements were incorrect? Was there any agreement between unions and management? He appreciated the turnaround strategy but wondered if the institution would collapse again when the administrator left.

Prof S Mayatula (ANC) asked what the status of the forensic report was, when would the administration period end and how could a college have misstatements in financial reports for three years.

Dr Brink replied that verification of allegations in the forensic report had been finalised and a meeting with the Deputy Director General of the DHET was imminent. The expertise of labour and legal specialists was in place and on call.

Mr John Slater, DHET Director of Labour Relations, said that the principal and Council were heavily implicated. Unions and labour, for unknown reasons, had been privy to the contents of the forensic report, and pressure from them would lessen once the cases had been brought. A court interdict to prevent illegal strikes was being sought and should be finalised before the end of the year. The TNC Council had no authority when there was an administrator. The administration period would end in August 2014. There was a gap between management and Council, and students took advantage of this. At first the Gauteng Department of Education had been in charge. They had suspended the principal with pay for 18 months, charged and found her guilty of nine counts of fraud and misconduct. She had been suspended and her salary had been stopped for three months. She wanted to remain in her post but the Minister had agreed that she should be removed to another post in the DHET, which would happen shortly. The CFO (deputy principal) was similarly suspended and would be moved. These ministerial appointments were the DHET’s responsibility. The previous day it had been announced that Mr Slater would hold a position at TNC. The intention was to appoint an acting principal, for administration to restore governance, and for Council to be operating by August 2014.

The previous administrator, Mr Martin Loots, expressed pleasure at Mr Slater’s appointment. He explained that enrolment figures varied because there were trimester courses (three per annum), semester courses and artisan-driven courses of six months to three years duration, as well as three modes of delivery (morning, afternoon and distance). There were 380 educators and 215 support staff (excluding security and cleaning staff).

Ms Ndlovu said that the problems were not with unions per se, but with a particular union. Another union had expressly distanced itself from lecturers who were not disciplined. Compliance was being enforced.

Mr Govender said that the 2009/10 financial statements had eventually been signed by Council but had been disclaimed. The next year’s financial statements had been prepared but Council had never responded to them. All of these would be complete by August 2014. Ms Ndlovu added that the good job that the finance person was doing was being hampered by union activity.

Mr Govender said that relations with the SRC were good but their term of office was over and they did not want to leave. The SRC term of office had been extended and the Independent Electoral Committee (IEC) had come to advise them regarding elections but the SRC had stood up the IEC twice and so the IEC support was no longer available.

The Chairperson thanked the presenters, saying that the Committee understood the issues. On a previous oversight visit to the campus, Committee members had met the head of the union concerned. The Committee would like a copy of the forensic report. Action should be taken and expedited. He urged that illegal strikes be firmly dealt with and guilty parties dismissed. The SRC could not dictate its own terms. The Committee supported the administrator’s efforts.

The Committee had visited many colleges because FET sector instability was a matter of concern. If time allowed, they would definitely like to visit TNC again, and meet with the union concerned.

The meeting was adjourned.