The controversy surrounding the Tshwane University of Technology’s (TUT) proposed campus in Sekhukhune, Limpopo, has taken a new turn with the ANC Youth League and the South African Communist Party (SACP) weighing in on the matter.
The Sekhukhune Royal Kingdom has accused TUT Vice-Chancellor Professor Tinyiko Maluleke of diverting the project to a different location, sparking outrage among the local community.
The ANC Youth League has now entered the fray, with its president, Collen Malatji, pledging to ensure the campus is built in Sekhukhune.
“This university is delaying, and we don’t know why it’s delaying. As the ANC Youth League, we are going to make sure that there is a university that focuses on mineral resources, artisans, and technology,” Malatji said during a visit to the Sekhukhune Royal Kingdom.
Malatji emphasised that the ANC Youth League would put pressure on the Minister of Higher Education, Dr Nobuhle Pamela Nkabane, to ensure that the project is implemented.
“We are fortunate that the Minister of Higher Education is of our generation, and she listens to us, and has been deployed by the Youth League... We are going to pressure her to start discussions about this issue.
“We are going to make sure it happens because the paperwork is there and the land has been availed. All we have to do is to make sure we get all the mines around here to invest… It needs political will; which we will force to happen,” Malatji said.
The SACP in Limpopo has also thrown its weight behind the Sekhukhune Royal Kingdom, saying that the establishment of a university in the region is long overdue.
“The SACP has taken interest in the matter and will be engaging the Premier of Limpopo (Phophi Ramathuba), the relevant traditional authorities, as well as TUT and other authorities within the higher education sector with the aim of achieving a solution that is sustainable and unites the people of our province rather than divides them on narrow regional patterns,” said the party’s spokesperson, Charlie Nkadimeng.
Nkadimeng said universities are national assets and should serve the whole nation, irrespective of where they are based.
“The establishment of a university in the Mopani region is long overdue, and an important development initiative in the province, much as the Sekhukhune region deserves an urgent establishment of a national institution focusing on mining, agriculture, and technology, amongst others.”
The controversy surrounding the TUT Sekhukhune campus dates back to 2021 when the university signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Sekhukhune Royal Kingdom to establish a campus in the area.
However, the project has been delayed, with the university allegedly diverting the project elsewhere to Giyani.
William Seripele Maphutha, head of Education and Economic Development for the Bapedi Kingdom and Coordinator of the TUT Bapedi Campus, previously condemned the alleged sabotage of efforts to establish a mining university in Sekhukhune.
“The Kingdom remains resolute in ensuring the project’s success, and this issue is far from over,” Maphutha said.
Maphutha’s statement confirms that letters have been sent to the Minister of Higher Education, and the matter is now under review by the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education.
TUT’s spokesperson Phaphama Tshisikhawe did not respond to an email sent to her on January 30 regarding the matter, despite texts sent to her phone to alert her of the email.
Part of the questions sent to her were that Sekhukhune Kingdom had denied that the university management had met with them despite her previously saying they had met.