Note to editors: Please find attached soundbite by Chantel King MP.
The death of another protection unit member of the University of Fort Hare Vice-Chancellor, Prof Sakhela Bhuhlungu, is concerning especially after the breakthrough on the assassinations of the UFH fleet manager, Peet Roets, and the bodyguard of the Vice-Chancellor, Mboneli Vesele.
The signs all show to a syndicate that has infiltrated the university – a Mafia State at the institution.
The qualification scandal of Prof Edwin Ijeoma must be taken seriously in light of his bogus Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree, a tactic he replicated when he was implicated in issuing fraudulent UFH degrees to high ranking politicians.
The slow pace of the University council to review its post graduate degree acceptance criteria will see more cases of a similar nature taking place. The degrees of these politicians should be revoked since they did not meet the criteria for acceptance into these programmes. This was certainly the case for four UFH student who could not graduate for their Masters degrees due to wrong acceptance criteria used by the University.
Apart from the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) investigation, the University has to put safety measures in place, conduct lifestyle audits on its staff and highlight dubious tenders which are red flagged.
The DA will conduct oversight at UFH to gain insight into how deep the rot is at the institution.
We cannot allow that institutions of higher learning under the leadership of Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande be subjected to mafia culture and tactics.