UNIVERSITY CELEBRATES LONG SERVICE

Over 200 staff who’ve dedicated a decade and beyond to servicing the university were personally honoured by the Vice-Chancellor during a glitzy awards event held at the institution’s Mthatha campus recently.

The awards, started in 2017 and championed by the Vice Chancellor Prof Rob Midgley, have served as one of the VC’s most critical strategies in creating an atmosphere of cohesion, unity and positive camaraderie – traits critical to the ultimate objective to increase productivity.

“I want to extend a heartfelt appreciation to the people receiving awards today. You have faithfully served this University and in some instances your former institutions that now make up WSU. I personally thank each and every one of you for your dedication and loyalty to this university,” said Prof Midgley.

The VC was raving in his reviews regarding the institution’s response to the Covid-19 outbreak, noting, unequivocally, the role played by specific staff members, teams and departments in ensuring that the business of the university continues with minimum hindrances. Chief to WSU’s success in fighting against the fatal scourge of the virus, Midgley outlined, were two critical factors – planning and effective implementation, a response which eventually saw the institution’s removal from the high risk list.

“Our planning and actions removed us from the high risk list and I’m proud of how the Coronavirus Emergency Response Task Team have actioned their plans to ensure business continuity whilst maintaining a safe environment for staff and students,” said Prof Midgley.

He also, to gasps of elation from the audience, highlighted the continued improvement made by the university in improving its balance sheet and its processes, and the subsequent improvement of its audit outcomes.

He said the institution had for years been eluded by satisfactory audit outcomes because of its weak financial controls and processes.

“The CFO and finance team have done their best to ensure that we produce an audit report that we can be proud of,” said Prof Midgley.

By Thando Cezula