Latest news with #UNISA
IOL News
5 days ago
- Business
- IOL News
Former UNISA finance chief claims university is defying CCMA ruling
Former University of South Africa CFO Phumlani Zwane has accused the university of refusing to pay him dismissal award following a protracted legal battle with the institution. Image: Jacques Naude / Independent Newspapers Over and above accusations of unfair suspension and dismissal, a former University of South Africa (UNISA) Vice Principal: Finance and Business CFO, Phumlani Zwane, has accused the institution of refusing to pay him the remainder of his CCMA award granted against the university on April 14, 2025. According to Zwane, this failure by UNISA to settle has resulted in the writ execution order of some of its assets. Zwane revealed that the alleged unfair dismissal and suspension were that he had complained to the institution in 2019 about a number of financial issues while VC Professor Mandla Makhanya was in charge. He said his attempts to raise financial irregularities were rewarded with an unfair suspension, which resulted in his unfair dismissal in 2021. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad Loading Since then, Zwane, who has been fighting his suspension through the courts, said he has not seen joy after UNISA allegedly failed to honour the R985,000 award by the CCMA despite the institution having complied with his unfair suspension settlement of more than R300,000. His last attempts to get his money in April resulted in a letter addressed to the current VC and UNISA Council Chairperson, DD Mosia, stating: "This is to notify you that following the CCMA awards issued on the 14th of April 2025, I then sent my banking details and request for payments to your attorneys via email on the 24th of April 2025, which have not been responded to date." Zwane's complaints come amid reports that the institution has been engaged in a series of suspensions involving some of its senior officials who are being sidelined for allegedly sounding the alarm over rampant irregular financial transactions at the institution. This has resulted in the Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Nobuhle Nkabane, indicating that she will look into the situation at the institution. "So effectively, Unisa has had three CFOs in the past five years. Two of whom were removed after raising financial irregularities with the council. The other strong evidence is that he also jumped ship as he was being forced to compromise financial controls so comrades could eat," Zwane alleged. According to Zwane, Unisa's unlawful actions have resulted in him having laid three complaints before the CCMA, which include an unlawful suspension dispute, an unfair dismissal dispute, and an unfair discrimination dispute, which he alleges are meant to frustrate the justice process and enforce his unlawful dismissal. However, in a statement, Unisa said Zwane only referred two matters to the CCMA, with the university having recently taken his unfair dismissal on review. "Mr Zwane referred two matters to the CCMA: one concerning an alleged unfair labour practice and another regarding alleged unfair dismissal. The university confirms that the matter relating to the unfair labour practice was resolved with full payment. The unfair dismissal matter has been taken on review by the university," Unisa said. As a result of the review application, Unisa stated that it will await the process before making a final decision on the matter. It added that it does not owe Zwane anything at this stage. "In accordance with legal procedure, the filing of a review application suspends the CCMA award. Therefore, there is no university maintains that there was no unfairness in the process," it said.
IOL News
5 days ago
- Politics
- IOL News
@Trending: Unisa in the dwang for targeting a whistle-blower
Unisa is back in the news again, and for all the wrong reasons. Unisa has suspended another senior official in their finance department for blowing the whistle on R500 000 allegedly spent on an ANC-aligned event. @CoolyNicey Woooooow spending money on @MYANC instead of settling students debt. @unisa. You guys are such a disgrace. @Mqadi99 The time has come for ALL the eyes of sober-minded South Africans to look closely at this Unisa. @Jikingqina @unisa credibility is going down day by day. @404HumanNot Public funds must never be used for partisan purposes. If the allegations are true, this is a clear violation of Unisa's mandate and the public trust. What's needed now is an independent investigation, immediate protection for all whistleblowers, and firm accountability. @Andyklaas1 Unisa is a mess,students in Mthatha have been told that the lecturer has vanished with test results,apparently its not the 1st time and when found some fictional results are given to students. @TshegoWatsona Unisa is falling apart, the rogue elements being protected by former President Mbeki the aids denialist. Personally, I don't hire people with political experience/connections and an education background from Unisa. I'd rather get someone with a second degree from there. @KitsoLefik Unisa is compromised. @VusiSambo So, UNISA has suspended suspected snitch, one Donald Ndlovu, a director in the asset and expenditure unit for allegedly downloading the R500 000 proof of payment to the ANC-aligned Progressive Business Forum (for some Gala Dinner in which dodgy UNISA VC Cde Puleng LenkaBula got to chill next to Cyril together with 11 of her other executive members. Tons of selfies were taken at the event). The counterrevolutionary & enemy of Black progress, AfriForum is now representing the snitch. DAILY NEWS
IOL News
04-06-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Should banks host the ballot? The democratic dilemma of ATM and app-based e-voting
ATMs and apps, unlike supervised polling booths, are uncontrolled environments. A voter could be coerced, or even incentivized to cast their ballot a certain way. Image: Supplied Prof Colin Thakur On 22 May 2024, at a joint IEC-UNISA engagement hosted at the UNISA Durban campus, I had the privilege of presenting my research on electronic voting (e-voting) in South Africa. The audience - comprising about 200 participants from academia, civil society, and industry - grappled with the future of elections in a digital democracy. Core concerns included the digital divide, inadequate voter education, and the technical infrastructure required to support secure and inclusive e-voting. Amid this robust debate, one audience member posed an intriguing question: Why not piggyback on banking apps or ATMs to collect votes securely? The suggestion - lateral and bold - demands thoughtful consideration, as it taps into the increasing appetite for leveraging familiar, trusted technologies to solve public challenges. We must have clear credible reasons for any decision choice. Interestingly, this ATM idea is not new. I explored similar terrain in my 2010 research report commissioned by the IEC, titled The X-National Experience. At the time, the national ATM footprint stood at 19,996, growing steadily to peak at 33 025 in 2019, before declining to around 28 467 today. This figure compares favourably to the 23 293 voting stations currently deployed during national elections. Yet this superficial alignment masks deeper issues. ATMs are not evenly distributed across human settlements. They are purposefully deployed in areas of high financial activity, often excluding rural and underserved communities. Unlike voting stations, they were never intended to ensure geographic electoral accessibility. This misalignment raises a critical democratic concern: how would such a model serve the unbanked, the rural, the digitally excluded? Moreover, the proposition of using banking apps or ATMs for voting introduces complex risks of outsourcing democracy to private institutions. While banks are generally trusted to secure financial transactions, elections are not just about data integrity - they're about public trust, transparency, and universal enfranchisement. Delegating the core mechanics of voting to corporations - however competent - alters the fundamental relationship between the state and its citizens. There are technical and ethical complications as well. ATMs and apps, unlike supervised polling booths, are uncontrolled environments. A voter could be coerced, or even incentivized to cast their ballot a certain way. The latter is called vote selling. This violates the secrecy of the vote, a cornerstone of legitimate democratic elections. Let us also not forget that while banks can afford a statistical margin of error in the form of a few lost rands across millions of transactions. This, while unpleasant is acceptable as a business risk. This is not the case in an elections. A single compromised ballot is a red flag for legitimacy and can, in some cases, could invalidate entire portions of an elections. Do also note the shrinking ATM footprint in South Africa. Banks are now closing ATMs due to three reasons: The first is Digital migration where more customers use online/mobile platforms. The second is operational costs and security risks with ATMs prone to vandalism, fraud, and cash transit costs particularly in remote areas. Finally new digital-first banks like TymeBank now use retail partnerships to offer cash access without traditional ATM infrastructure. This erosion of physical banking infrastructure further undermines the feasibility of ATM-based voting. Finally ATM or app voting is a form of remote voting also called Internet Voting is arguably the most contentious form of ballot capture. David Dill, a computer science professor at Stanford University, argues that internet voting poses significant risks to election integrity, stating that "from the perspective of election trustworthiness, Internet voting is a complete disaster." This sentiment reflects broader concerns that the complexities and vulnerabilities inherent in digital platforms may not be adequately addressed when repurposing systems designed for banking to handle electoral functions.
IOL News
25-05-2025
- Business
- IOL News
A critique of the proposal to close public universities and convert them into colleges
Dawie Roodt, an economist, should keep in mind that, universities are not narrowly designed as he would think; to produce immediate job-ready graduates, but to fulfil a broader mandate that includes critical thinking, foundational knowledge, research and public service. says the writer. Dawie Roodt, an economist at the Efficient Group, has advocated that certain state universities in South Africa be closed and converted into colleges, claiming that they are not creating the "right skills" in comparison to private institutions. This concept stems from a worry about the skills mismatch in the South African employment market. However, the plan to close public institutions indicates a fundamental misunderstanding of the varied functions within the post-secondary education and training system, and it risks jeopardising public higher education's long-term developmental, democratic, and intellectual missions. Misunderstanding the Role of Universities Roodt should keep in mind that, Universities are not narrowly designed as he would think; to produce immediate job-ready graduates, but to fulfil a broader mandate that includes critical thinking, foundational knowledge, research and public service (CHE 2016, Badat 2010) and according to Manuel Castells, each with their own specific expectations and internal logic. Castells argued (2001:206) that 'universities perform a major role in the generation of new knowledge'. I assume that Roodt would have known that public universities are grounded in the idea of knowledge production, and innovation contributes to national development in ways that are not reducible to short-term market needs. A university graduate and, by his own admission, of UNISA, our land university, would have known this. His reckless claim that Unisa is underperforming was without facts. At least he should be aware that, in the last few years that UNISA, out of its 151-year history, has emerged as one of South Africa's and the African continent's premier scientific research and innovation institutions. As a dispute to his assumption and weird disinformation about UNISA, the institution has identified ten catalytic niche areas (such as Autotmotive Studies, Energy Studies, Space studies and the Square Kilometre Array, Fourth Industrial Revolution and digitization, etc) that will activate and enhance its academic agenda while remaining focused on the institute's vision of building Africa's Intellectual capacity. My view is that the role of public universities goes beyond 'immediate' skills production; their purpose includes fostering critical thinking. The failure of Roodt's argument was to realise that the skills gap cannot be solved by solely changing from public to private and from a public university to a private university.
IOL News
22-05-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
The future of e-voting in South Africa: Opportunities and challenges
An illustration of an e-voting machine. Image: IOL / Ron AI Although the powers that be are exploring electronic voting (e-voting), its implementation in South Africa cannot be expected anytime soon. E-voting embraces electronic means of casting votes and counting them. University of South Africa (UNISA) distinguished professor at the College of Science, Engineering and Technology, Professor Colin Thakur, said a voting machine is a specialised type of computer. Therefore, normal computers and smartphones cannot be used. He said issues regarding an election include vote secrecy, vote security, transparency, ease of voting, speed and efficiency of counting, and effect on voter turnout and equity of access. 'When we press a button, we expect privacy, we expect security, we expect verification, we expect,' Thakur said about e-voting. He said paper was slowly losing its gold standard stature because of the logistics of moving 90 million pieces of paper from the central location to the voting districts and then the reversal logistics. Additionally, instances of 'lost' ballot boxes can cause danger by creating a lingering doubt. Thakur said the other challenge lies with ballot tabulation, which includes undercounting, overvoting, and none of the above (NOTA). 'One thing paper does that machine doesn't do is, you can spoil your ballot paper,' Thakur said. Why e-voting? Thakur said modern devices are becoming more intuitive and they mitigate mobility, illiteracy, people with disabilities (PWDs) challenges and the elderly. E-voting is quicker and more accurate for vote tallying and announcements. You can ask electorate-focused questions or percentage-type questions. 'E-voting machines can be used to decide a national non-political question not affecting the Constitution, or be used to gauge if the government has enough public support to go ahead with a proposed action,' Thakur said. He said e-voting is useful in a fragile, transitional, or a government of national unity democracy. Additionally, national, provincial, and local elections can be held simultaneously and can be cheaper too. Election hacking He said theoretically, things like ransomware, denial of service attacks, latency, 404ed! Page not found and Eskom can happen. However, most hacks happen in the lab and not on-site or during elections. However, he stated that no technology is insulated from misappropriation. Radio signal interception is possible. He said hacking needs sustained access to the e-voting machine. 'On voting day, there is no Wi-Fi, no Bluetooth, there's no connectivity, the machine is isolated from the world. So, how do you hack a machine that's secure?' Thakur stated that to secure the vote, there are zero-knowledge proofs, homomorphic encryption, mix networks, blockchain, and a voter-verified paper audit trail. He highlighted that e-voting is adopted in a stable, non-violent political climate; fragile or transitional democracy; multi-party democracy with two dominant parties; coalition government; large populations; a level of technical maturity; illiteracy is not seen as a setback; and a mixed economy. E-voting strengths, opportunities, and advantages Thakur said e-voting is fast, accurate, and gives an unemotional count. It also has multilingualism. He said e-voting helps PWDs, the elderly, and illiterate voters through images, audio, graphics, symbols, and speech-to-text touchscreens. It also provides additional voting options. He added that human error is reduced by automated transmission and tabulation of errors. Thakur said electronic transmission is the last thing that happens, and it is important because of denial of service attacks, ransomware, and man-in-the-middle interception. However, blockchain can mediate this challenge. He said if the IEC decides to pilot or trial e-voting, then the legislation process must start, but information dissemination must start immediately. 'E-voting is not about technology - it's about democracy. We must guard against an election becoming a census of those who vote,' Thakur said. [email protected]
