THE liquidators of SA’s only free university, Cida City Campus, did not have the best interests of students, staff and the public at heart, former staff members have said in court papers.
A fight over the future of the university — once viewed as a groundbreaking model for free tertiary education — is headed for court this week, with former staff members wanting the court to intervene to keep Cida going.
The university’s student representative council has also entered the fray in support of the former staffers and has written to Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande, saying if the university was closed permanently, current students would not get their degrees.
The university was deregistered by the Department of Higher Education in November last year.
The former staff members, who are still owed money by the university after it could not pay them for some months — backed up by some of the university’s other creditors, want the court to order the liquidators to convene a creditors meeting in order to consider any offers to buy Cida, in particular an offer by Africa Integras, a specialist in education development in Africa.
The liquidators have argued in their court papers that the Africa Integras offer did not "make business sense" and did not provide for payment of the "full purchase consideration".
They also said that as provisional liquidators, they were not allowed, by law, to convene a meeting of creditors until the university had been put into final liquidation.
But in a replying affidavit, former staffer Danny Mncube said it appeared that the liquidators’ "primary concern" was to get as much as they could for the university’s individual assets "and maximise their fees".
Whatever their reason for closing the university, the decision "failed to have any regard to the interests of creditors, students, staff and the public interest", said Mr Mncube, adding that the reasons given by the liquidators for refusing the Africa Integras offer were "vague, contradictory and unsubstantiated excuses".
While the offer — which would keep the university open — was not for the full purchase consideration, it still provided for "substantial consideration" and would satisfy creditor claims, Mr Mncube said.
He said that it was also clear now that the liquidators had no intention of fulfilling their legal obligation to bear the cost of finding alternative educational arrangements for its students.
In its letter, Cida’s student representative council said the university was once a "thriving success and pride of the nation". It said 85% of its graduates were employed and Cida graduates represented 5% of all black ICT graduates in SA.
Students at the Cida City Campus in Lyndhurst, Johannesburg. Picture: SOWETAN
THE liquidators of SA’s only free university, Cida City Campus, did not have the best interests of students, staff and the public at heart, former staff members have said in court papers.
A fight over the future of the university — once viewed as a groundbreaking model for free tertiary education — is headed for court this week, with former staff members wanting the court to intervene to keep Cida going.
The university’s student representative council has also entered the fray in support of the former staffers and has written to Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande, saying if the university was closed permanently, current students would not get their degrees.
The university was deregistered by the Department of Higher Education in November last year.
The former staff members, who are still owed money by the university after it could not pay them for some months — backed up by some of the university’s other creditors, want the court to order the liquidators to convene a creditors meeting in order to consider any offers to buy Cida, in particular an offer by Africa Integras, a specialist in education development in Africa.
The liquidators have argued in their court papers that the Africa Integras offer did not "make business sense" and did not provide for payment of the "full purchase consideration".
They also said that as provisional liquidators, they were not allowed, by law, to convene a meeting of creditors until the university had been put into final liquidation.
But in a replying affidavit, former staffer Danny Mncube said it appeared that the liquidators’ "primary concern" was to get as much as they could for the university’s individual assets "and maximise their fees".
Whatever their reason for closing the university, the decision "failed to have any regard to the interests of creditors, students, staff and the public interest", said Mr Mncube, adding that the reasons given by the liquidators for refusing the Africa Integras offer were "vague, contradictory and unsubstantiated excuses".
While the offer — which would keep the university open — was not for the full purchase consideration, it still provided for "substantial consideration" and would satisfy creditor claims, Mr Mncube said.
He said that it was also clear now that the liquidators had no intention of fulfilling their legal obligation to bear the cost of finding alternative educational arrangements for its students.
In its letter, Cida’s student representative council said the university was once a "thriving success and pride of the nation". It said 85% of its graduates were employed and Cida graduates represented 5% of all black ICT graduates in SA.
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