VC vows to ‘mop up’ at UFH

The University of Fort Hare’s new head can see light at the end of the university’s financial tunnel.

In a wide-ranging interview, Professor Sakhela Buhlungu, a former dean of humanities at the University of Cape Town who took over from Dr Mvuyo Tom as vice-chancellor at the beginning of the year, spoke of the university’s finances, his plans for its future and recent student protests.

DAILY DISPATCH: If you were a doctor and the University of Fort Hare was your patient how would you diagnose its finances?

SAKHELA BUHLUNGU: The finances are in recovery. They just came out of intensive care and recovery is a very interesting stage because there could be a relapse or you can regain good health.

At the moment, it’s touch and go but we are not bankrupt. If we are going to regain full health we are going to have to tighten our controls and make sure that we do not use money that we do not have.

But more than that, we need to raise money for an endowment for the university – we need to go and get big money, put it in accounts and build on it and live off the interest.

DD: How would you describe the administration at the university?

SB: I am very excited about the structures we have and the personnel. There are very good people who are committed and experienced.

But also, having said that, there are lots of old habits which are a deadweight on the institution. These habits, such as failure to source resources on time, are slowing the pace of implementation.

DD: There is a perception that there are corrupt practices at UFH – what is your response?

SB: There is a lot of mopping up that has to happen. If we don’t do the mopping up, we will perpetually be doing crisis management, we will keep having protests and being in the newspapers for the wrong reasons.

Frankly, the perception out there – I am very aware of it – is that Fort Hare is a rotten place, which has corrupt practices if not people – and I am not going to say yes or no. It is up to us to address this perception by doing things differently.

DD: In your maiden speech you said the days of being known only as a university with a rich history had to end. Apart from its rich history, what else do you want the university to be known for?

SB: The university should be known for the quality training it provides to its graduates and quality academics that work for it. We should be the destination of choice for any student and provide decent student living conditions. We should also be a university that addresses and not denies these perceptions of corrupt practices. We cannot be content with being a good university in Alice, the Eastern Cape or the country – we have to be the best globally.

DD: You joined the university just after its 100 years’ celebrations last year. What will your role be in trying to achieve a new vision for the next 100 years? And when your five-year term comes to end, what do you hope to have achieved by then?

SB: During my five-year term I would like to invite academics who want to work at Fort Hare to apply for posts knowing that coming here will not be to come and sit in a comfort zone but to rebuild the institution. I would really like to see an administrative system that has integrity and financial stability.

In the next century I would like Fort Hare to be the top university and Alice to be a university town. — arethal@dispatch.co.za