Fort Hare in flames: Corruption, power struggles and a campus in crisis

As protests erupt and tensions mount at the University of Fort Hare, questions are being raised about corruption, power, and the future of South African higher education.

Earlier this month, students took to the streets in violent protest, demanding the resignation of Vice-Chancellor Professor Sakhela Buhlung and accusing university management of poor governance.

But as the University of Fort Hare's Professor of Development Studies Andries Bezuidenhout suggests, the unrest runs deeper than student discontent.

It is a response to university leadership trying to eliminate systemic corruption.

Bezuidenhout joined Fort Hare eight years ago, and what he witnessed upon arrival shocked him.

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“There were torn and tattered curtains from the 1970s,” he recalls, describing a campus left to decay.

According to Bezeidenhout, part of the issue was in service contracts that benefited private contractors much more than the institution itself.

“Some people were making millions off Fort Hare, without doing much in return,” he says. “The contracts the university signed with service providers weren’t to its benefit.”

He attributes the start of the backlash to 2017, when Professor Buhlungu assumed the role of vice-chancellor. Even his inaugural ceremony was disrupted.

“It was disgraceful,” Bezuidenhout says.

Since then, Buhlungu has been recognised for enhancing the university’s physical and administrative facilities, including the building of new student residences and straightforward yet important upgrades to infrastructure.

“Simple things like wheelchair access… the gardens look beautiful now,” says Bezuidenhout.

This week, the Minister of Higher Education, Mr Buti Manamela, stated that student protests at the university may have been hijacked by criminals 'who may or may not be students”.

To listen to Professor Andries Bezuidenhout in conversation with Bongani Bingwa on 702's Breakfast show, click on the audio below: