Listen here.In his latest interview with Chris Steyn, Grant Abbott the General Secretary of the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) shares evidence collected over years for the criminal complaint lodged against Vice-Chancellor Professor Sakhela Buhlungu who was recently placed on precautionary suspension by the Council and now faces charges of gross misconduct. Allegations in the union’s criminal complaint include the appointment and promotion of individuals outside lawful recruitment processes, the circumvention of governance structures, the approval of substantial financial settlements of millions of rands and remuneration adjustments without proper justification. It also sets out how the Vice Chancellor selectively used disciplinary processes to protect his allies and targeted whistleblowers. Meanwhile, some of those who benefitted from the Vice-Chancellor’s “schemes” are now the accused in corruption and fraud cases. “The problem is that you can't position yourself as a corruption buster and then in the process of doing that create more corruption...”.Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox every morning on weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa's bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here..Edited transcript of the interview.Chris Steyn (00:01.154)Trouble keeps mounting for the suspended Vice Chancellor of Fort Hare University. With me is Grant Abbott of the National Tertiary Education Union. Welcome, Grant.Grant Abbott (00:14.888)Thanks, Chris, and thanks for having me.Chris Steyn (00:18.424)You've laid a criminal complaint against the VC with the Hawks, the SIU and the Public Protector. What are the allegations?Grant Abbott (00:28.699)Thank you. Thank you so much. Firstly just to start off with, as we know, the matter with regards to Fort Hare has been a longstanding one. We've spoken to you and been on your show a few times, just expressing the concerns. But to give you an idea, essentially what we've done is filed a criminal complaint against the Vice Chancellor for irregular appointments, for making appointments contrary to the policy of the institution and then giving people golden handshakes that go into the millions and millions of Rand. We're not talking just small change here. And the reality is that that is taxpayers' money. It's not his own money, it's not his own company. And that is what is quite key in terms of…the criminal complaint outlines quite significantly the evidence that we have gathered and has come to our attention over the last two to three years. And it now lays it out and says that the Vice Chancellor is not just someone behind the scenes. He is very actively involved on the face of what we see this evidence as. So we are talking about effectively HR corruption.Chris Steyn (01:56.793)Hm. Well, this is a man who styled himself as an anti corruption fighter.Grant Abbott (02:04.044)Yeah, he did, you know, and it could well be that he came in originally with very good intentions. The problem is that you can't position yourself as a corruption buster and then in the process of doing that create more corruption - and that's exactly what he has done. There may be, for example, legitimate things that he did get right, but on the face of the evidence that we've presented to law enforcement, we think it is he's done more harm than good.Chris Steyn (02:42.264)So you say you presented evidence with a complaint. What nature of evidence?Grant Abbott (02:49.592)So it's documented proof of emails and agreements that he had with people that he had appointed. You know, many of those who are currently facing fraud and corruption charges themselves in the Fort Harr matter, those are people that he brought in without proper process. We're talking about significant pay hikes and back pay for people that just off a whim he signs it away. You know, in an institution like Fort Hair, for someone's postgrade to be regraded, there must be a proper process that goes with that. And for someone to get a salary increase, there needs to be a proper process. from the moment in a particular case where a request was made for a salary increase, he approved it within a matter of three days. Now it isn’t just with a back pay of half a million rand, we're talking about massive amounts of money. And you know the other evidence is that we have screenshots of WhatsApp messages that he had with various people that he said, Do this, you know, get rid of these people, bring in these people. It was really to all intents and purposes a mafia run kind of organisation under his term. And the reality is our whole thing is saying that, and this is what the evidence is pointing to, is that the decision or the accountability needs to happen at the office of decision. Where is the decision made? The final decision is made with the Vice Chancellor. Yes, that he's not the only one, but he is, in our view, the main one. From what we've seen of the evidence is that he is the main one who needs to give an account….Chris Steyn (04:56.034)He's currently on precautionary suspension. Please remind our viewers what that suspension is all about.Grant Abbott (05:03.169)So a precautionary suspension is when there are allegations against an employee, in this case it would be the Vice Chancellor as an employee, and they have placed someone on or that employee on precautionary suspension so that there can be an investigation and they cannot interfere with that investigation. Once that investigation then concludes, they will then formally lay charges and then there would be a disciplinary area.So it's not a suspension as a result of doing something wrong. It's precautionary. And I believe that internally in terms of the disciplinary matter, that they have filed charges. I haven't seen the charge sheet. but that process I believe is underway and we do want it to be our plea to the council that they let that process run - and it must be expeditious, it must be done properly and fairly. As much as we believe that he is criminally negligent, he is like any other citizen and any other employee, he deserves a fair process, fair opportunity, and that's what must happen.Chris Steyn (06:20.941)What overlap is there between the allegations being investigated now and the complaint laid by you?Grant Abbott (06:29.345)Look, that's a very good question. So the current disciplinary matter involves the fact that there were appointments made to particular executives that we’re aware of where he signed off on their appointments without following due process with getting the approval of counsel. It is often said that this is an overreach by council..it's not for me to say whether it is or isn't. But where the overlap or where is the connection between the the criminal complaint we've laid against him and this is that what the criminal complaint outlines over a period of two to three years, if not longer, possibly even from in fact much more than that, it's from 2018, 2018-19 already, where these irregular appointments and appointments without following due process.It has been one of the cornerstones, dare I say, of his term as Vice Chancellor. You know the infamous Isaac Plaatjies was brought in on a short term contract and then just parachuted directly into the VC's office as this Director of Investigations and Vetting. and he was never vetted. But I mean he didn't appoint himself. It was the Vice Chancellor who appointed him.And even before that appointment happened, we still said to to him, we wrote a letter to the VC saying that this is an unusual process, don't don't continue with this, and yet he still after that, still appoint a year after that, still then appointed Plaatjies as the Director of Investigations and Vetting…you just can't behave like that in a democratic institution, in a South African higher education institution. And an institution that relies on taxpayers' money to operate. It's not your business. And he's often operated like it's his own private…Chris Steyn (08:38.391)Grant, remind our viewers how long he has been at the university. He clung to his position for dear life, didn't he?Grant Abbott (08:46.399)Yeah, so let me speak into that quickly. So he started there in 2017, and in that process, as Vice Chancellor, he would then have one five-year term. Every Vice Chancellor has two terms they can serve, on a five-year fixed term contract. He had his first term and then that expired and then they extended it for a second term. The issue, however, came in that the university's retirement age is sixty-five. Now every employee of the institution has to retire at the age of sixty-five. The Vice Chancellor, however, for some reason, that council back then, not the current council, last year that extended his contract, thought that he's above the institution's own rules, and so they can let him continue beyond the retirement age. So he should have in fact retired at the end of September last year when he reached the age of sixty-five, September 2025. However, they extended the contract beyond his retirement age, and we've been saying that that is just simply untenable. Then there needs to be fairness. I spoke earlier in this very interview that he must be treated fairly in his disciplinary process. That's something that the union insists on all the time, it's fairness. So fairness is a principle that applies to him in terms of a disciplinary process. And if it's fair for other staff to leave at sixty five, it must be fair for him to have to leave at that same retirement age. So we're looking at at that period and he really should have left now already, but as it turns out he will now likely see what the disciplinary says. But in any event his contract will expire sometime in the course of next yearChris Steyn (10:49.739)But for the record he has always protested his innocence and claimed that he is being targeted by people he's pursuing for corruption. Is that correct?Grant Abbott (10:58.996)That is what his narrative that he puts out is that he's been targeted by people who have nefarious reasons. We don't. You know, we're not on a witch hunt. In fact, we're on the very opposite. When you present evidence that is like this, it's not a witch hunt. We're saying to law enforcement, hey, we think there is a case here. You go and investigate it. We're not a trade union equipped. It's not our job to investigate these things. But it is our job to see, and it's our job as citizens, to say where things have gone wrong. We have to report these things. We have to speak out about these things. and that's what and that's what has been happening. So yeah, he's been s he's been saying essentially I guess that it's a witch hunt and that we're after him because of whatever reason. It's just simply not true.Chris Steyn (11:54.498)Now Grant, he's had the backing of some very, very powerful people and he seemed very untouchable for a long time.Grant Abbott (12:02.741)Yeah. that's the discourse I guess in South African politics; certainly it is a discourse that exists within… You know powerful people find a way to stay in power and often by fear and intimidation of people who speak out. And it does seem like he may well be politically connected. It may well be that he's connected somehow to people within the law enforcement and justice system. But we still trust, in fact, in fact, let me say this is that even… all the stuff is coming out in what is the Madlanga Commission, let's keep in mind that by and large, the vast majority of people in law enforcement are in fact good people. They're people that are wanting to do the right thing. And I even just suddenly thinking you've done a show with the two lawyers who were then thrown under the bus in this whole thing as well - and you know they're just good people trying to have done a good job and fell out of favour with this Vice Chancellor and that's what he does. For some reason he's just like no no hold on a minute. I don't like you anymore and that's the end of you. And so yeah he seems to be able to pull those kinds of strings. He is a interesting character, that's for sure.Chris Steyn (13:35.583)Mm. Now we're looking at almost a decade of destruction at this historic institution. How can it be turned around? Who can turn it around?Grant Abbott (13:46.837)Great question. One I've often spent a lot of time thinking about because we've been so invested in this. As you say, it's been ironically they talk about the Decade of Renewal that was supposed to happen under the VC. And you're correct in the use of the term saying the Decade of Destruction. That's more what it was like. In fact I think we said that in our media statement. And so the Decade of Renewal must really start now. What needs to happen is that council needs to find a fit and proper person to fill that position. A fit and proper person to be Vice Chancellor who will get the academic project back on track. Will put students and staff first. Your people are your first priority - and we must make sure.Even more so than the person themselves. But the process must be properly done. Let's not rush this thing like he l like he used to with just however he wants to, you just sign off from people. Let's have a proper recruitment, selection, vetting process. Those processes are not there to frustrate things. They are there to prevent the kind of corruption and criminality that we've seen. So what needs to happen for Fort Hare council should start looking at putting an advert together, what are the requirements that would be necessary? Obviously you're looking for someone with a PhD, you're looking for someone who's got strong administrative skills, someone who can listen to advice, someone who understands governance, understands governance structures well. This vice chancellor clearly didn't understand his role with regards to the council. Council is the highest decision-making structure of a university, not the Vice Chancellor. And we need to ensure that that accountability mechanism is restored between the office of the Vice Chancellor and Council.And you know what else I would say, and maybe I'll take some slack for this, but let's look for someone who is young, who's energetic, who's not afraid to do the right thing, who's not going to try and play for the media.Grant Abbott (16:09.144)Unfortunately this Vice Chancellor tried to run the institution via the media. I mean, I don't think there's any other VC who's been in the media more than he has in any of their terms. So it's someone who's gonna put the institution first. It's gonna put higher education first, it's gonna put education of tomorrow's leaders first, and the social justice and upliftment of the area within which Fort Hare finds itself is critical.Chris Steyn (16:39.373)And preferably somebody who's not politically connected or politically beheld to somebody.Grant Abbott (16:44.806)Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. You don't want someone who's politically connected. You don't want someone who's going to be taking instructions from somewhere else. It's someone who genuinely has the best interest of the institution, at heart, and that's important. That's also to say that sorry, in South Africa it's difficult to find people who don't have political persuasions. but that doesn't mean that such people are automatically…Grant Abbott (17:14.191)…not fit for the job. You can have political persuasions, but your moral integrity and ethics is critical. And I would say that's even more important as something to test in a recruitment selection interview process than qualifications. What is your moral back?Chris Steyn (17:36.459)And also from your point of view, somebody who would not victimise whistleblowers and workers and union members.Grant Abbott (17:41.443)Workers. Yes, absolutely. Someone who doesn't who doesn't think that you know dissenting voices are people that just must be silenced. Someone who values the involvement of stakeholders, someone who will listen to SRCs and to unions and to every stakeholder alumni association and…and…At universities there are tons of stakeholders that are involved and that's exactly how they're supposed to run. That's what prevents corruption is involvement of every stakeholder.Chris Steyn (18:24.289)Thank you. That was Grant Abbott of a National Tertiary Education Education Union speaking to BizNews about Fort Hare’s very, very difficult decade. Thank you, Grant, and I'm Chris Steyn.Grant Abbott (18:38.649)Thank you.