TUT Needs To Regain Trust From Its Students

Kgothatso Madisa

@ItsProllyGubzee

Prof. Lourens van Staden

Just under two weeks ago newspapers reported on former Tshwane University of Technology Deputy Vice Chancellor, Professor Lourens van Staden, being appointed by Higher Education Minister Dr Blade Nzimande as Administrator of the financially ailing Walter Sisulu University. He subsequently had to resign from TUT as a result.

Earlier this year van Staden showed that he wanted to stay at TUT as he was one of the top contenders of the Vice Chancellor post and seemed to have been most qualified for it before it was given to Prof. Johnny Molefe who had been found to have obtained an invalid doctorate from St George University International, in the Bahamas, in the Caribbean. The university doesn’t exist anymore and Molefe and others at TUT had received these degrees online without meeting a single individual from the now non-existent university and it appears he had been informed of this by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) which refused to recognise his qualification in 2007.

Despite the knowledge that he didn’t have a doctorate Molefe went ahead and accepted the post of Vice Chancellor of the university and TUT appointed him after warnings from Nzimande who, after not receiving a proper explanation on the reasons for the appointment, decided to appoint Prof. Themba Mosia as the university’s administrator who after a thorough investigation eventually fired Molefe two weeks ago.

South Africa’s Choice of Friends Raises Serious Moral Concerns

Sibusiso Banda
@sbudalicious

President Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea was recently
hosted by President Jacob Zuma.

The Catholic Committee Against Hunger and for Development has found that Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the president of Equatorial Guinea, has stolen billions of Rand worth of assets that belong to the people he claims to lead. Reporters Without Borders says the president filed a complaint in France against the authors of the report, but it was quickly dismissed.

Nguema is known for his lavish lifestyle and his youngest son, Teodorin, often shows off wealth by going on expensive boat trips and hosting huge parties while the people of the poor, oil rich African state go hungry. Nguema is also allies with South Africa as he was recently hosted by President Jacob Zuma, the man who once headed the Moral Regeneration Movement. Zuma hosted the dictator after exiled Tibetan spiritual leader; His Holiness – The Dalai Lama – was refused a South African visa to attend Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu’s birthday party. The Nobel Peace Prize winner isn’t good enough for South Africa, but the dictator of an oil rich country who keeps his people in poverty while helping himself to their money is.

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Armchair Critics In Student Politics - A Major Cause of Decay

Zwelo Masilela

@Zwelo

Student politics is an old phenomenon or practice just as politics in general; it is has been historically seen as hub of intellectualism and a preparatory school for future leaders of the country of course emanating from different political organisations. The student movement has produced many leaders who are today sitting in parliament, leading strategic sectors of the economy and occupying other influential positions in society.

The question many would ask is whether the current generation of student leadership reflects the future of this country? Does it possess inspiration to the students it leads and society at large? Is it an epitome of good leadership? Is it relevant to the post 1994 generation? Those are just some of the questions I ask myself as a student leader. I believe the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) Soshanguve campus is one the most politically vibrant campuses in the country with many political structures and lots of people who proclaim themselves as leaders and politicians – but many seem to be unaware of the many realities in this country and, at times, contribute towards the problems in the campus’ student leadership structures.

 Let me highlight the challenges facing this campus in particular relating to student politics:

·         Tribalism is rife and there are those who do what is coined as “anti-tribalism tribalism” (This means those who claim to fight tribalism when their ethnic groups are marginalised, but later do the same when their tribe is given the space initially contested).

Chaos as TUT Students & Guards Get Into Physical Fight

Anorth Mabunda, Sthembiso Sithole & Lindokuhle Mnisi

@Anorth Mabunda, @sitholesthe & @ Dr_Dream_SA

Students broke windows and stole batteries in security room.

The Soshanguve North campus of the Tshwane University of Technology is under police watch after students clashed with the security officers on Monday night. Chaos broke out when an officer working for security services provider, Triotic, allegedly assaulted a student who was drunk for not producing a student card at the gate.

 

After the slapping of the student, other students then attacked an estimated 30 security officers.
 

“The student was drunk and didn’t have a student card. The officers then refused to let him entry to the university premises. The students tried to enter forcefully, prompting the officers to slap and throttle him until he fell down,” said a student who was at the scene and did not want to be identified. 

Not Much Changed in Soshanguve, But Residents Content

Sthembiso Sithole
@sitholesthe

Earlier this year these people built shacks illegally,
they still don't have land a few months on.

Earlier this year we covered a story about Soshanguve residents who said they had been waiting for government housing for close to 20 years and had decided to occupy land illegally so they could build their own shacks. We visited those residents recently to find out if there had been an improvement in their aim to access adequate housing or at least get land allocation to build shacks. Many say they are happy for now as their pleas seem to have been heard.

“Finally we managed to get a stand given to us by the councilor, Marutula. Anytime soon we will be build houses,” said group chairperson, Matshona Matjeke.

Doctors Say She Won't Live Beyond 13 - But She Manages to Joke About it

Alice Mminele
@MmineleA

12-year old Ontlametse from Hebron, Pretoria, lives with Progeria. Greek word meaning “prematurely old”. This is an extremely rare condition that affects 1 in about 80 million new-borns in the world. The scientific name for this condition is Hutchinson Gilford Progeria syndrome, which was discovered in 1886 by Jonathan Hutchinson and Hastings Gilford.

This disease normally begins to appear at about 18 to 24 months of age. This, however, was not the case for Ontlametse as her family found out what was wrong with her when she was 10. Doctors were dismissing her condition as bad skin rash while classmates and teachers mocked her, saying she was HIV positive.