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Justice Nicholas Mathonsi

Mashudu Netsianda, Senior Court Reporter
THE High Court yesterday reversed the decision by the Lupane State University (LSU) management to relocate students and lecturers in the Department of Development Studies from Bulawayo to the Lupane main campus.

The ruling by Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Nicholas Mathonsi follows an urgent chamber application filed by nine LSU lecturers in the Department of Development Studies seeking an order barring university authorities from relocating them from Bulawayo to the Lupane main campus.

The disgruntled lecturers were relocated to Lupane on Sunday last week.

Initially, the relocation of all students and staff to the LSU main campus was deferred to July 23, 2018, due to resources problems.

The lecturers led by Mr Douglas Nyathi, through their lawyer, Mr Thulani Ndlovu of Sansole and Senda Legal Practitioners, filed an urgent chamber application at the Bulawayo High Court citing LSU as the respondent.

In papers before the court, the lecturers said they were not opposed to the relocation but were only worried about lack of accommodation at the university’s main campus.

They said they were not consulted and only became aware of the latest memo on Wednesday last week, arguing that the relocation was given at a short notice.

Justice Mathonsi said the decision by the LSU management to relocate the applicants at a short notice was irrational and unreasonable.

“Clearly, therefore, apart from the legitimate expectation that the relocation will take place in July 2018, the decision to order the applicants to relocate on four days’ notice is not only unreasonable but extremely irrational,” he said.

The judge blasted LSU authorities for failing to consider personal circumstances of the affected lecturers before arriving at the decision to relocate them to Lupane at short notice.

“Even though the respondent has purported to withdraw the relocation order, that is cold comfort to the applicants as long as the students they are employed to teach have relocated. I therefore conclude that a good case has been made for the relief sought including the return of the students to Bulawayo to take their lectures in Bulawayo until the matter is finalised,” ruled Justice Mathonsi.

In his founding affidavit, Mr Nyathi said the university had announced that they would be relocated on July 23, but they were shocked when a new memo was circulated stating that they would be relocated to Lupane on April 8.

“In a major U-turn, in a memo dated 27 March 2018, the respondent advised that the Vice-Chancellor’s decision to defer relocation of the departments of Development Studies and Educational Foundations has been reviewed. It stated that the relocation of both students and staff shall now be on 8 April 2018,” he said.

“Considering the fact that we have families and more importantly that we had been advised that the relocation would be on 23 July, a four-day notification creates a sense of shock and absurdity. It is grossly unreasonable that families can be uprooted and relocated to Lupane on such short notice,” argued the lecturers.

The lecturers said the relocation at short notice would result in them failing to perform their duties and create absenteeism from work.

According to a memo signed by the university Registrar, one Mr J Makunde, and copied to the Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences and chairpersons of the Educational Foundations and Development Studies, the staff members and students in those departments were supposed to relocate to the LSU main campus last Sunday. The human resources section had been requested to assist with the travel arrangements.

The lecturers want the university to stick to the 23 July relocation date. LSU has since its inception been struggling to move its operations from its rented premises in Bulawayo to its campus in the Matabeleland North capital.

Last month, LSU students based at the institution’s main campus in Lupane demonstrated against university authorities for allegedly exempting learners from the Department of Development Studies from paying accommodation fees. — @mashnets