Latest news with #FortHare
News24
3 days ago
- News24
Another 2 ‘hitmen' arrested for the murder of Fort Hare vice-chancellor's bodyguard
Police have arrested another two suspected hitmen involved in the 2023 murder of Fort Hare vice-chancellor Sakhele Buhlungu's bodyguard. Mboneli Vesele was shot and killed while inside a vehicle waiting for Buhlungu outside his home in the Eastern Cape. In total, 12 suspects have now been arrested for the murder. Two more suspected hitmen have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the murder of Fort Hare University vice-chancellor Sakhele Buhlungu's bodyguard, Mboneli Vesele. A third alleged hitman, Siphiwo Jejane, is still on the run, according to police. Vesele was shot and killed inside a vehicle while waiting for Buhlungu outside his home in the Eastern Cape on 6 January 2023. National police commissioner, General Fannie Masemola, said the South African Police Service (SAPS) published the alleged hitmen's pictures in November last year, and requested the public's help in tracking down the wanted suspects after obtaining a J50 warrant of arrest for Bafana Chiliza, Nkosiyazi 'Dipopoz' Maphumulo, and Siphiwo 'Spijojo' Jejane. Just over a week ago, on 21 June 2025, police investigators proceeded to Zakkariya Park in Johannesburg to effect the arrests, following intelligence and information from members of the public. 'The SAPS confirms Bafana Chiliza and Nkosiyazi Maphumulo are in custody and will be charged accordingly,' said Masemola. He commended the investigating team for working tirelessly to apprehend all those behind the killings at Fort Hare University. 'Members of the public play a significant role in assisting the work of the police in apprehending wanted suspects. We thank all stakeholders for playing their part', said Masemola. Police also thanked the media, social media community and community members for assisting police investigators to track down the two hitmen linked to the murder. A total of 12 people have now been arrested in connection with the Fort Hare murder.
Mail & Guardian
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Mail & Guardian
Universities defend hiring of foreign staff
Academics say claims by politicians and on social media are fueling xenophobia and could compromise their safety. Photo: Julian Stratenschulte/picture alliance /Getty Images Claims by politicians that South African universities are hiring more foreigners than locals for posts are stoking In parliament earlier this month, Reports of this sparked outrage on social media, with some users accusing institutions including the University of Fort Hare, University of the Free State, the University of Pretoria and the University of the Witwatersrand of being biased against local academics. Some posted lists of the names of foreigners they claimed had been hired. 'If a narrative such as this begins to take hold, if it becomes something that people believe to be true, then my concern is that that would generate a hostile environment — for international academics, specifically for African international academics — which can make life and work in South Africa profoundly difficult,' said Alf Nielsen, a Norwegian professor and director of the Centre for Asian Studies in Africa at the University of Pretoria. 'It's important to note that it's already quite challenging for most of us to be international academics, in terms of the difficulties that we experience with renewing our work permits, where rejection is more of a rule and an exception, despite the fact that you've worked at an institution in South Africa for quite a long time.' One list which was posted on social media was of academics at the University of Pretoria's Centre for Human Rights. The director of the Department of Institutional Advancement at the university, Rikus Delport, said it 'unequivocally rejects the false and misinformed commentary circulating regarding the staff composition of the Centre for Human Rights'. 'All academic staff are South Africans or permanent residents of the country and bring invaluable continental expertise that enhances the quality and relevance of the centre's academic and advocacy work,' Delport told the Mail & Guardian. 'The diversity of the centre's academic team is not incidental — it is essential. It directly reflects the centre's mandate to engage with human rights issues across Africa with depth, credibility and authenticity,' he said. He added that, overall, the university's law faculty exceeded the government's employment equity target. Parliament's portfolio committee on higher education said it was concerned about the University of the Free State's employment of 141 foreign academics and 26 foreign support staff and in March visited institutions of higher learning in the province to assess whether transformation, legislation and employment equity policies were being implemented. (Graphic: John McCann/M&G) Chairperson Walter Tebogo Letsie told the M&G that the committee 'observed non-adherence legislation as some institutions employed foreign nationals in non-scarce skills positions, despite South Africans having qualifications, skills and competencies to execute the duties of such positions'. 'Why are South Africans overlooked, even when they meet the requirements?' he asked. Following attacks that appeared on social media, the 'There are no legal quotas restricting the hiring of international academic staff. 'Many emerging markets around the world strive for international academic representation of 10% to 15% as a means to promote diversity, spur innovation and collaborate on research,' it said in a 'According to our most recent audited data, 81% of [our] academic staff are South African, while 19% are international.' Asked about reports of his committee requesting information from universities on the number and qualifications of the international staff they employed, Letsie said it would seek to 'ensure that their appointments adhere to the policy'. He said that universities must take responsibility 'where there is evidence of transgression' of the Employment Service Act. Responding to the xenophobic comments circulating on social media, Letsie said the portfolio committee sought to ensure that foreign academics, who are welcome in the country, 'meet all the legal requirements, have qualifications and that they have skills that South Africans do not'. Senior journalism and media studies lecturer at Wits University, Zimbabwean-born Collen Chambwera, said that while the nature of social media was generally 'anarchic' he was more concerned about false claims coming from political figures. 'Politicians are supposed to be more responsible than social media, you would think, and officialising something like listing names of foreign nationals who are employed by universities — I think it's reckless,' he said. The Free State's Central University of Technology did not respond to questions from the M&G.
The Herald
08-05-2025
- Business
- The Herald
NSFAS in 'firefighting mode' over student accommodation crisis
The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) acting CEO Waseem Carrim acknowledged ongoing problems with student accommodation, citing inadequate planning and risk assessment before implementing the student accommodation pilot project. Nsfas launched the pilot project during the 2022/23 academic year to ensure that qualifying students were provided with conducive private accommodation. Carrim said that NSFAS had undertaken the project without doing necessary feasibility studies, capacity building, policy guidelines, or a legal framework, resulting in significant issues within the system. This came as NSFAS briefed MPs on updates related to resolving students' appeals, funding decisions for the 2025 academic year, disbursement of funding and allowances, the close-out report, student accommodation and related matters. Highlighting the structural problems within the student accommodation sector, Carrim pointed out the shortage of safe and secure student housing in South Africa. 'If you go to the University of Fort Hare today, Alice campus, there are insufficient beds, which means we end up paying the students an allowance. And say, go and find your own which is not a good way to run the system, but we must recognise that even where student accommodation exists, we do not have an effective and efficient distribution system of allocating, placing and paying for that student accommodation.' Carrim noted that in 2024, about 2,500 accommodation providers, representing about 81,000 students, were paid about R2.9bn for private accommodation. However, in 2025, though payments had been made to 3,828 providers representing more than 100,000 students, the disbursements amounted to about R1.3bn, significantly lower than the previous year. To address the immediate issues, Carrim said, NSFAS had finalised the 2024 reconciliation of unpaid student accommodation and instituted a 2024 claims process, with payments expected by May 31. Carrim said many small and medium businesses could not survive without NSFAS payments if there were no payments for two or three months. 'On the other side of that, we also have a fiduciary obligation to confirm that the students who are staying in those residences are confirmed students. We are picking up too many instances where students are living in accommodation as NSFAS students, but we don't have registration data,' he said. Further, Carrim acknowledged challenges related to unaccredited accommodation allowances, which were capped at R2,500 to encourage landlords to upgrade facilities to meet accreditation standards. He noted that this cap led to protests, such as at the University of the Free State, prompting NSFAS to grant a deviation for the 2025 academic year. Addressing the Eastern Cape situation, Carrim said that a system challenge had caused some landlords to receive only one month of disbursement after being owed four for months. He assured that a top-up payment was scheduled for May 2 . A member of the portfolio committee on higher education, Sedukanelo Tshepo Louw, recommended that by the end of May, institutions should have NSFAS officers on-site so that students could address their frustrations directly with them. 'Unaccredited private accommodation should not be paid for, however, providers should be encouraged to seek accreditation,' Louw said. TimesLIVE
