Page 12 - DUT Annual Report 2024

REPORT OF
THE VICE-CHANCELLOR AND PRINCIPAL
ON MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION
PROFESSOR T.Z. MTHEMBU
Vice-Chancellor and Principal
Introduction
The year 2024 marked the first year of the Upended Phase of ENVISION2030, following the successful completion of the Different Phase from 2020–2023. To remind the reader, our strategy is segmented into three periods, each with clear outcomes/impacts that measure our progress towards the ideal state in 2030 (and beyond).
According to the three periods of our Strategic Plan 2030, the period 2024–2026 will see the Upending of the University, markedly punctuated by the institutionalisation and embedding of systems and processes which have already supported the rise of a Different DUT, moving away from a number of pathologies that used to define this University. Ultimately, the remaining three years, which is our Transformed period, should consolidate and solidify the University’s essence, aptly summarised by our strategy to be “contributing to improving the lives and livelihoods of the broader society” and ultimately “transforming our societies and their economies”.
In my last report I emphasised the now established culture of ‘frugal reporting’ at DUT. Given that ENVISION2030 is fundamentally about the transformation of the University, and also significantly incorporates the important pillar of Sustainability in its broadest sense, as represented by the third Perspective, I want to draw attention to the fact that the two statements on transformation and sustainability are invariably embedded in this overarching Statement on Management and Administration.
Stewardship
The Stewardship Perspective is one of the first two ‘enabling and effecting’ Perspectives. It is the most foundational of the four Perspectives and comprises three
interdependent Strategic Objectives (SOs), namely Lived Values, Institutional Culture and Creativity.
Lived Values and Institutional Culture are two sides of the same coin, mutually reinforcing each other. As they both seek to entrench a particular behaviour for the entirety of the DUT community at the levels of individuals and governance and management structures, I need to report that the professional relationship between Council and Management grossly deteriorated for the period under review. While the attempt to unseat the University Management played out in the open in 2024, its roots date back many years, fuelled by collusion by some internal and external detractors who have been unhappy with the transformation espoused by ENVISION2030.
While I will not get into details of the true facts behind the compromising of the social compact we have been building, moulded on the Living Values Framework (LVF) approved by both Council and Management in 2023, it suffices to say DUT faced acute challenges this year regarding the integrity of our collective adherence to the LVF. In defence of both the integrity of individuals and facts and reason, the matter ended up in the High Court and Labour Court, with both ruling in favour of Management.
The chasm between Council and Management also resulted in regression of progress on the front of relations between Management and Labour. The net effect of this regression was the inability of the Labour and Management Consultation Forum (LMCF) to sit and consider matters of mutual interest. Similarly, both the Institutional Forum and the Convocation were also (mis) used to spread misinformation and innuendo, the only purpose of which was to legitimise the illegitimate means to remove what some have dubbed ‘new management’.
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DUT ANNUAL REPORT 2024