Dear Portfolio Committee on Higher Education,

I write to you concerning my Master's degree results which I never received but instead acting Rhodes University Registrar Prof Michelle Karels send me a letter on 17 April 2025 stating that some decision was taken not to award me the degree. And when I asked for external examiner reports so that I can see and explain to the mother of my child and my mother how come I failed the MA, I was told the Office of the Registrar is "functus officio". I messaged the HoD of Sociology Department (Prof Gilton Klerck) and he said, apparently after consulting with someone from the Registrar's office, that while he can't provide the reports he could explain to me via WhatsApp or Zoom. I told him NO, this was unfair and that I need proof. He said his hands were tied, and then I emailed the Dean of Humanities (Prof Msindo) who never even acknowledged my email. For most of 2025 I spend in shock and looking for work to no avail. I fell into unemployed-depression since without the MA and academic recommendations or being enrolled for PhD, my prospects suddenly looked dim that I even began looking for any job.

The MA was well overdue (2019-2023) because it was supposed to be 1year (coursework + mini thesis). I completed the Development Studies course part in 2019 but, for reasons I can't discuss here, I took time with the thesis and even ended up submitting without my supervisor's approval (Prof Lucien van der Walt) in March 2023. The results from examiners came next year in May 2024. Since I submitted without my supervisor the first time and had lost trust in the thesis examination process, I decided to rework/ do corrections on my own and resubmitted in February 2025. I didn't want anyone second guessing my thinking or ideas anymore. In the same period (2nd semester 2024) I was given a temporary job to co-lecture Social Research to 3rd years for R40k.

Early this year 2026 I had a change of heart because I was either going to keep drowning in that unemployed-depression and anger or find a way out. I resolved to focus on finding a publisher for a book I have been writing since 2023. "A Class Theory of Decolonising Higher Education" stands to challenge the Registrar's decision. If I really failed, it should be easy for an education/science institution to prove that in no way have I Mastered Sociology. What transpired ever since is that the university has ignored me, even the DVC (whom I emailed this year seeing I was now owing R46k in Fees). Initially I was billed R34k just for corrections and resubmission of which I did by myself and which I was still not clear about. The increase to R46k is due to the fact that I took about 8 books on the Sociology of the Family after I resubmitted Feb 2025 and marked the supplementary exam for those students who didn't do well in Nov 2024 final exam for Social Research. I thought I'd be back soon to continue with PhD and probably teaching more. The objective with the books was to design and give public lectures to students and community on gender politics, relationships and the modern family from a class perspective as compared to identity politics or relationship psychology perspective. This was not a Department sanctioned course but something I wanted to community-engage with, especially the youth.

I emailed the VC, DVC and, I think, Fees Office but no one responded. Even if I say I'd pay the R46k I'm currently broke and the situation with my MA has inhibited my academic progress and employment prospects. But like I said, this year I had a change of perspective. The book is almost done but I haven't found a publisher. The last chapter in the book i.e. "What ECDs can Teach us about Higher Education?", is something I also realised maybe I should research about. Up until last year most of my attention was on higher education and defending decolonisation. The research I plan to do is about "Assessing and Improving the Quality of Rural and Township Creches". This experience has pushed to continue with scholarly work but outside the academy. So instead of seeking to get a PhD so that I can then get a postdoc, associate and eventually full professorship as a mark that I am an intellectual, I can branch out and build an institute of research and economic development right in rural heartland where I come from in Limpopo. The long term objective with "Lebowa Institute of Research and Economic Development" (which I'm busy applying for as an NGO) is to conduct socioeconomic research primarily in education and to raise funds to finance programmes to improve the quality of Basic Education in the Greater Tubatse Fetakgomo Municipality. Beyond this the objective is to research other areas like household demographics, health & social development, infrastructure (roads, energy, water & the environment), mining beneficiation, heritage or tourism & traditional affairs.

In the short term though I need the MA issue resolved so I can enrol for a PhD.