{"id":50798,"date":"2023-06-30T19:33:32","date_gmt":"2023-06-30T19:33:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/power-struggle-comes-to-a-head-at-unisa-as-registrar-is-fired"},"modified":"2023-06-30T22:58:13","modified_gmt":"2023-06-30T22:58:13","slug":"power-struggle-comes-to-a-head-at-unisa-as-registrar-is-fired","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/power-struggle-comes-to-a-head-at-unisa-as-registrar-is-fired","title":{"rendered":"Power struggle comes to a head at Unisa as registrar is fired"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>A third senior Unisa leader has been fired as the institution continues to fend off calls for reform following a scathing 309-page report into a range of allegations, including poor leadership and governance.<\/p>\n

On Friday, Unisa confirmed Professor Steward Mothata had been fired as registrar.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Mothata received a letter of termination of employment.<\/p>\n

It happened a day after the institution marked its 150-year anniversary.<\/p>\n

Mothata’s employment contract as the registrar was terminated with immediate effect.<\/p>\n

On Friday, the university said in a statement it had communicated the decision directly with him.<\/p>\n

It added:<\/p>\n

Mothata’s dismissal comes after Unisa principal and Vice-Chancellor Professor Puleng LenkaBula placed him on precautionary suspension for, among others, failing to advise her, the council and its committees about governance matters and possible related risks.<\/p>\n

A letter signed by LenkaBula informing Mothata of his suspension was leaked earlier this month.<\/p>\n

In the letter, she wrote the registrar had breached policies on confidentiality, and was being accused of gross abuse of office, gross dishonesty, and gross insubordination.<\/p>\n

At the time, Mothata hit back, saying his suspension was nothing but “retaliation”.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, he told TimesLive LenkaBula did not have the power to suspend or fire him.<\/p>\n

Tensions between LenkaBula and Mothata were laid bare in a report into Unisa’s affairs which was published in the government gazette last month.<\/p>\n

Professor Thabo Mosia was appointed by Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande as the assessor to lead the investigation into Unisa, the state of its affairs and a wide range of allegations.<\/p>\n

Mosia wrote in the report “that it became clear to me that the relationship had become irreparable; and it was seriously impacting the work of the university”.<\/p>\n

He said he heard about the “glaring tension” between the two from “students, staff, managers at various levels and members of council”.<\/p>\n

Mosia questioned how the fallout between the vice-chancellor and Mothata had impacted the registrar’s portfolio “[g]iven the many complaints I received from students”.<\/p>\n

He recommended Unisa be placed under administration and council and management members be relieved of their duties.<\/p>\n

Mosia found the registrar’s portfolio had needed to be fixed due to poor consequence management, outdated policies and failure to protect student data, among other concerns.<\/p>\n

This is not the first time Mothata, while registrar of a university, has found himself clashing with a vice-chancellor.<\/p>\n

In 2014, the Sunday Independent reported he became embroiled in a “bitter battle” with then-Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) vice-chancellor Nthabiseng Ogude.<\/p>\n

In the report, Mothata, who was registrar at TUT at the time, acknowledged there was “tension” between the two.<\/p>\n

Ogude eventually left the institution that year, with the Mail & Guardian reporting a she had been pushed out.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. A third senior Unisa leader has been fired as the institution continues to fend off calls for reform following a scathing 309-page report into a range of allegations, including poor leadership and governance. On Friday, Unisa confirmed Professor Steward Mothata had been fired as registrar. On Tuesday, Mothata received a letter of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":50797,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[274,315,228,309,310,275,5425,823],"class_list":["post-50798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-education","tag-gauteng","tag-johannesburg","tag-south-africa-2","tag-steward-mothata","tag-unisa"],"yoast_head":"\nPower struggle comes to a head at Unisa as registrar is fired - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A third senior Unisa leader has been fired as the institution continues to fend off calls for reform following a scathin ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/power-struggle-comes-to-a-head-at-unisa-as-registrar-is-fired\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Power struggle comes to a head at Unisa as registrar is fired\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A third senior Unisa leader has been fired as the institution continues to fend off calls for reform following a scathin ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/power-struggle-comes-to-a-head-at-unisa-as-registrar-is-fired\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-06-30T19:33:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-06-30T22:58:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2023\/06\/sm_1688142557.210709.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"454\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/power-struggle-comes-to-a-head-at-unisa-as-registrar-is-fired#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/power-struggle-comes-to-a-head-at-unisa-as-registrar-is-fired\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Power struggle comes to a head at Unisa as registrar is fired\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-30T19:33:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-30T22:58:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/power-struggle-comes-to-a-head-at-unisa-as-registrar-is-fired\"},\"wordCount\":478,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/power-struggle-comes-to-a-head-at-unisa-as-registrar-is-fired#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2023\/06\/sm_1688142557.210709.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-South-Africa\",\"Education\",\"gauteng\",\"johannesburg\",\"South-Africa\",\"steward mothata\",\"unisa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/power-struggle-comes-to-a-head-at-unisa-as-registrar-is-fired#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/power-struggle-comes-to-a-head-at-unisa-as-registrar-is-fired\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/power-struggle-comes-to-a-head-at-unisa-as-registrar-is-fired\",\"name\":\"Power struggle comes to a head at Unisa as registrar is fired - South Africa\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/power-struggle-comes-to-a-head-at-unisa-as-registrar-is-fired#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/power-struggle-comes-to-a-head-at-unisa-as-registrar-is-fired#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2023\/06\/sm_1688142557.210709.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-30T19:33:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-30T22:58:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"A third senior Unisa leader has been fired as the institution continues to fend off calls for reform following a scathin ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/power-struggle-comes-to-a-head-at-unisa-as-registrar-is-fired#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/power-struggle-comes-to-a-head-at-unisa-as-registrar-is-fired\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/power-struggle-comes-to-a-head-at-unisa-as-registrar-is-fired#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2023\/06\/sm_1688142557.210709.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2023\/06\/sm_1688142557.210709.jpg\",\"width\":720,\"height\":454,\"caption\":\"Power struggle comes to a head at Unisa as registrar is fired\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/power-struggle-comes-to-a-head-at-unisa-as-registrar-is-fired#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Power struggle comes to a head at Unisa as registrar is fired\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/\",\"name\":\"South Africa\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Power struggle comes to a head at Unisa as registrar is fired - South Africa","description":"A third senior Unisa leader has been fired as the institution continues to fend off calls for reform following a scathin ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/power-struggle-comes-to-a-head-at-unisa-as-registrar-is-fired","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Power struggle comes to a head at Unisa as registrar is fired","og_description":"A third senior Unisa leader has been fired as the institution continues to fend off calls for reform following a scathin ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/power-struggle-comes-to-a-head-at-unisa-as-registrar-is-fired","og_site_name":"South Africa","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2023-06-30T19:33:32+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-06-30T22:58:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":720,"height":454,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2023\/06\/sm_1688142557.210709.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/power-struggle-comes-to-a-head-at-unisa-as-registrar-is-fired#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/power-struggle-comes-to-a-head-at-unisa-as-registrar-is-fired"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Power struggle comes to a head at Unisa as registrar is fired","datePublished":"2023-06-30T19:33:32+00:00","dateModified":"2023-06-30T22:58:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/power-struggle-comes-to-a-head-at-unisa-as-registrar-is-fired"},"wordCount":478,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/power-struggle-comes-to-a-head-at-unisa-as-registrar-is-fired#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2023\/06\/sm_1688142557.210709.jpg","keywords":["Africa Press","Africa Press-South-Africa","Education","gauteng","johannesburg","South-Africa","steward mothata","unisa"],"articleSection":["all news","policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/power-struggle-comes-to-a-head-at-unisa-as-registrar-is-fired#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/power-struggle-comes-to-a-head-at-unisa-as-registrar-is-fired","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/power-struggle-comes-to-a-head-at-unisa-as-registrar-is-fired","name":"Power struggle comes to a head at Unisa as registrar is fired - South Africa","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/power-struggle-comes-to-a-head-at-unisa-as-registrar-is-fired#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/power-struggle-comes-to-a-head-at-unisa-as-registrar-is-fired#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2023\/06\/sm_1688142557.210709.jpg","datePublished":"2023-06-30T19:33:32+00:00","dateModified":"2023-06-30T22:58:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"A third senior Unisa leader has been fired as the institution continues to fend off calls for reform following a scathin ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/power-struggle-comes-to-a-head-at-unisa-as-registrar-is-fired#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/power-struggle-comes-to-a-head-at-unisa-as-registrar-is-fired"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/power-struggle-comes-to-a-head-at-unisa-as-registrar-is-fired#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2023\/06\/sm_1688142557.210709.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2023\/06\/sm_1688142557.210709.jpg","width":720,"height":454,"caption":"Power struggle comes to a head at Unisa as registrar is fired"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/power-struggle-comes-to-a-head-at-unisa-as-registrar-is-fired#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Power struggle comes to a head at Unisa as registrar is fired"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/","name":"South Africa","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50798\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}