Brown shoes, a navy suit, a white shirt and a grey tie.
That’s the outfit University of Fort Hare student Mbali Silimela bought to wear at his graduation today.
But he won’t get to wear that outfit in Alice today because he is in a David versus Goliath fight with the university.
Mbali (26) was a student at the University of Fort Hare and he was studying towards a Bachelor of Education.
This year, he took the university to court because he was not given the marks he thought were due to him because a lecturer had not marked his assessment on time. He approached the Bhisho High Court, without a lawyer, on an urgent basis, asking it to review a decision made by the university’s senate.
The bone of contention is that, in his founding affidavit, Mbali says the application is for the review and setting aside of a decision taken by the Senate of the University on 2 February 2023 to withdraw or revoke (his) EDW 401 marks of 57%, which had been conferred on him by (the) Faculty of Education and Faculty board of the university on 12 January 2023.
The court ordered the university to review their processes and fix his marks.
Read more | 'The judge erred' - says UFH after it was ordered to allow an education student to graduate
When they didn’t, he then returned to court backed up by his new attorney Lwazi Dekeda. Presiding judge Nozuko Mjali found that the senate misdirected itself as to what it was required to do in terms of the order.
“Explicit from the papers is that the late of submission of the Mbali’s 57% mark was not of his own doing but was due to the lecturer, Mr Macanda’s dilatory conduct. Common cause to the parties is that the decision to condone the applicant’s late filing of work was granted on 8 December 2022, a period of five days before the closure of the submission of the marks into the system on 13 December 2022.
“Macanda only marked the applicant’s work on 11 January 2023. This was after a lot of persuasion through a number of emails from Mbali. By then, the entry of marks into the portal had closed and could only be done with the permission of the senate. Had Mr. Macanda acted timeously, there would be no need for the approval of senate for the entry of the altered applicant’s mark into the system.”
On 9 May, the court handed down a ruling that directed the university to add Mbali's name to the list of graduates.
The university then filed a notice for an application for leave to appeal the judgment that had compelled them to put Mbali’s name on the graduation list for this May.
The university’s graduation programme started on Monday and the education faculty graduates today.
While his fellow classmates are posting “Wake up Mr West, Mr West, Mr Fresh” on their social media in excitement for today, Mbali wishes he could throw his phone away. Kanye West’s song, Graduation, is the soundtrack of this graduation season countrywide.
“I had already bought bus tickets for my family and friends to travel from KwaZulu-Natal to the Eastern Cape to support me. I had hired the hood and gown, they are here at home, hanging in the wardrobe. Then I bought the graduation [sash]. Now I cannot use them today.
“I wish I could throw my phone away so that I do not see all the status updates on social media because this is very painful for me. Even the people who were going to support me are also prepared but there’s nothing we can do. The university just doesn’t want me to graduate this season.
Read more | Student suing Fort Hare says he ‘never enjoyed my time as a student at UFH’
“At the beginning of the week I was still hopeful, but they made sure to frustrate me further. They filed their notice on Monday and the judge was willing to hear us on Tuesday, still in time for me to graduate. But they said their advocate is sick and their other counsel has a trial.”
Even his tone sounds down, but Mbali says he is grateful for his legal team.
“They are willing to fight with me step by step and I appreciate that. I am prepared to see this through, no matter what.
“But for the rest of this week, my plan is to avoid social media. I am happy for everyone, but I am sad for myself. I wish I could experience this milestone and celebrate with them too, today.”
