DUT responds to governance and residence defect claims following Parliamentary oversight visit
The Durban University of Technology (DUT) has rejected claims that there are internal disputes among Council members.
The university was responding to comments made by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training in a recent media statement.
The statement was released during the committee’s oversight visit to DUT’s Indumiso Campus in Pietermaritzburg last week.
The committee had expressed “serious concerns” over infighting among Council members, warning that internal disputes could undermine governance and negatively affect teaching and learning. ”
In response, DUT said there is “currently no infighting amongst the DUT Council members,” adding that the committee’s statement was “quoted out of context.”
The university stated that past tensions among Council members had been resolved through internal corrective action.
“The stakeholderisation that plagued the Council during 2023/2024 has been firmly dealt with via a self-corrective intervention through the November 2024 Council resolution to appoint an Independent Code of Conduct Panel to adjudicate on various contraventions of Council Code of Conduct,” DUT said. “The DUT Council is currently on a self-corrective path and continues to perform its fiduciary duty unhindered and as a more cohesive formation with improved collegiality and etiquette.”
The committee also voiced disappointment that one of the university’s student residences remained underutilised despite millions of rand being spent on renovations.
Members said students in the affected building were still facing basic challenges such as having to hand-wash their clothes due to non-functional laundry facilities.
The committee called for accountability from the contractors involved, stating that those responsible for poor workmanship should be “named and shamed”.
Committee chairperson Tebogo Letsie said: “We cannot continue to invest money we do not have into projects that fail to deliver desired results,” added Letsie.
Responding to this, DUT said, “There is no case where renovations were done and then afterwards we found structural defects. The allegation is false and misleading.”
The university explained that repairing defects formed part of the overall renovation process.
“Currently, there are two residences whose renovations have been completed. The renovations of three other residences are expected to be completed by 15 November 2025, which means that all residences will be available for utilisation in 2026.”