Sakhela Buhlungu has shown incredible courage in tackling corruption at Fort Hare

As current and former university vice-chancellors, we note with great concern the R500-million damage caused by violent acts and arson to infrastructure at the University of Fort Hare.

An additional concern is that the arsonists targeted newly renovated and upgraded buildings, including the agriculture building’s new laboratories, a new student clinic and a recently renovated staff centre. Important administrative infrastructure was also destroyed, including academic records and personnel files.

Disconcertingly, some protesters are calling for the removal of the university’s vice-chancellor, Prof Sakhela Buhlungu, a respected and internationally recognised academic. His task is to address systemic neglect and maladministration at Fort Hare — a key institution in the history of black university education.

Buhlungu has led a necessary process of renewal at Fort Hare. He has demonstrated incredible courage in purposefully tackling corruption, mismanagement and maladministration at the institution.

His efforts have gained the respect and admiration of many people who wish to see an end to the impunity and brazen thievery that are destroying the social fabric of our institutions and society.

He boldly called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to commission investigations by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) into corruption at the university, which have uncovered academic and financial fraud.

Several cases are being prosecuted. Some of those implicated in the cases are individuals with significant political influence, which has exposed the university to political pressure and conflicts of interest.

Research on successful anti-corruption campaigns shows that they only succeed when there is political protection for those who expose and determinedly tackle corruption, and effective prosecution of those involved.

Ever since the appointment of Buhlungu as vice-chancellor, there have been attempts to violently disrupt the university’s academic programmes and functioning, and calls have been made on him to resign, including at his inauguration. There are actors and individuals who, for good reasons, fear his principled and dogged determination to clean up Fort Hare.

The scale of the destruction at Fort Hare is extraordinary. Alongside that, Buhlungu survived an attempted murder and has been subject to malicious rumours that seek to tarnish his reputation.

In our view, any premature termination of Buhlungu’s tenure would have repercussions beyond the University of Fort Hare and would undermine the rule of law at South Africa’s universities, in particular, and in the country more broadly. It would set a precedent that destruction and intimidation can be successful as a political strategy.

For reasons of historical significance and contemporary relevance — Fort Hare is the custodian of South Africa’s liberation movements’ archives and of a significant collection of apartheid era art by black artists — the university must be shielded from threats and acts of violence and arson.

It is the responsibility of the relevant arms of the state to ensure this, and to ensure that those involved in the arson and violence are identified and prosecuted. There can be no justification for the torching of buildings, facilities and vital records. We must hope that the SIU’s investigations are not imperilled by the destruction of records.

We express our unequivocal support for Fort Hare and its leaders for their principled and courageous leadership, for their efforts to ensure that Fort Hare’s academic standing and programmes and academic staff are safeguarded, and for what they have achieved to date. DM

The authors are all current or former vice-chancellors of South African universities: Saleem Badat (Rhodes), Barney Pityana (Unisa), Jonathan Jansen (UOFS), Malegapuru Makgoba (UKZN), Brian Figaji (CPUT), Yunus Ballim (Sol Plaatje University), Tyrone Pretorius (UWC), Wim de Villiers (Stellenbosch) and Max Price (UCT).