Addressing the media this week, president of UBASSU, Professor Motsumi Marobela, shared that for some time now they have tried to engage with the new minister. He said they wanted Maele to pay them a courtesy call and listen to their cries. Marobela stated that to date they have not heard from the minister nor have they received any form of acknowledgement that the ministry had received the letter. UBASSU has now called on the minister to meet them or they will march to the ministry as the little patience they have is running out. “We as the university workers are sick of what’s happening at UB all because of our leaders. Because of this, we tried to meet with the minister for a courtesy call, but he has not responded to us,” complained Marobela. Marobela said it is quite appalling for them to see that a minister who has almost a month in the office has not met them till now, which leaves them with only an option to go on strike. “The minister is not dealing with this urgently and it is quite surprising because we know that shortly after being appointed, he was at UB to meet the Vice Chancellor (Professor David Norris). So if he does not respond to us, we are going on a strike,” Marobela said fumingly.
Marobela highlighted that they must meet the minister as the leader in the higher educational sector so that he can mediate the challenges the university is embroiled in from mismanagement, and bad working conditions, to retrenchment and despair. He further said they will not shy away from embarking on the peaceful demonstration as the now ruling party Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) has shown support. “If we do not hear anything from him in two weeks, we will march to his office. Because this is what the new government stands for, we all have rights and even President Duma Boko told police officers to stop refusing permits. We should be free like the CEDA demonstration,” Marobela stated. The grievances of academic UB staff and support staff stem from the university’s restructuring process, which aims at transitioning the university into a high-performing institution. UBASSU secretary-general, Dr Batlang Seabo, shared that the process is taking far too long. “The UB management continues to undermine its staff and the restructuring process has traumatised the staff and put them through psychological emotional turmoil,” Seabo said.
Seabo further lamented that because the process is dragging, the employees are now stuck, and do not know what the future holds for them as the university continues to retrench people. “UB employees are not well their lives are at a standstill, so we appeal to the UB management to live up to their promises,” begged Seabo. Adding on Seabo’s perspective, the executive secretary of UBASSU, Dr Emmanuel Mogende, stated that UB should expedite the process so that the staff can move on with their lives. “The UB management continues to undermine and downplay the frustrations of UB staff emanating from the delayed retrenchment,” said Mogende. Meanwhile, Seabo highlighted that for the university to move on from its problems, there is only one solution, which is for the whole board to be relieved of their duties.
