In the grand halls of Pretoria’s Muckleneuk campus, where echoes of South Africa’s educational revolution still linger, Prof. Puleng LenkaBula stands as both a beacon and a battleground. Appointed in 2021 as the first black woman to lead the University of South Africa (UNISA) Africa’s largest open distance learning powerhouse – she inherited a storm of scandals, sexist barbs, and a narrative painted in shades of decay. Fast-forward to 2025: Two years after a high-stakes court battle thwarted a government bid to seize control, UNISA isn’t just surviving under her watch; it’s thriving. With record graduations, climbing global rankings, and unqualified audits signaling fiscal fortress-like stability, LenkaBula’s story is one of resilience a tale that demands we peel back the headlines of yesteryear to reveal a leader under siege, but unbowed.
This investigative deep-dive, drawing on court records, internal audits, and fresh performance data, uncovers how LenkaBula has steered UNISA from the brink of “administration” a euphemism for institutional takeover to a position of quiet triumph. It’s a narrative long overdue: one that defends a trailblazing vice-chancellor not with platitudes, but with the hard metrics of progress, while exposing the undercurrents of bias that have shadowed her tenure.
The Inheritance: A University in Chains
When LenkaBula stepped into the principal’s office on January 1, 2021, UNISA was no stranger to turmoil. Preceding leadership under Prof. Mandla Makhanya had been dogged by whistleblower leaks, union clashes, and a damning 2019 racism scandal where a senior executive’s bigoted remarks went unpunished for months. Student protests over NSFAS funding delays and administrative black holes had become annual rituals, amplified by a COVID-19 pivot that exposed the cracks in UNISA’s vast bureaucracy. Then came the 2023 Independent Assessor’s Report a 309-page indictment penned by Prof. Themba Mosia, branding UNISA a “cauldron of instability” rife with bullying, maladministration, and financial irregularities. It recommended dissolving the council and ousting the executive, including LenkaBula, in favor of state administration.
The report’s fallout was seismic: Unions like NEHAWU bayed for her head, opposition MPs decried “empire-building” via a bloated VC office, and tabloids feasted on lurid details – R285,000 curtains for the VC residence, a R1.9 million Mercedes SUV, and whispers of a R14 million staff splurge. Social media dubbed her the “Slay Queen VC,” a misogynistic moniker that LenkaBula herself has publicly condemned as a smear rooted in gender and racial bias. “It’s an attack on arrival,” she told a Senate meeting in 2023, echoing patterns seen in other black women leaders like UCT’s Mamokgethi Phakeng.
But here’s where the investigative lens sharpens: Those scandals? Contextualized, they crumble under scrutiny. The residence renovations, ballooning to over R3 million, stemmed from deferred maintenance on a dilapidated property – not personal extravagance. LenkaBula never even moved in, and she ordered an internal probe into the overruns, saving the university millions by axing wasteful contracts. The SUV? A practical 4×4 for traversing UNISA’s far-flung regional campuses, replacing a fleet of underpowered sedans that previous VCs had managed with. And the “empire”? Those hires – communications experts and advisors were strategic bets on stakeholder engagement during a reputational freefall, yielding dividends in international partnerships that now bolster UNISA’s pan-African footprint.
Critics, including Minister Blade Nzimande, painted her as presiding over “rot.” Yet the North Gauteng High Court in October 2023 slapped down his administration push as “unlawful” and premature, ruling he’d flouted due process. UNISA’s ongoing legal review of Mosia’s report argues it was riddled with flaws unsubstantiated allegations and a failure to credit ongoing reforms.
The Turnaround: Metrics That Matter
Two years on, the proof is in the pudding – or rather, the podiums and parchments. UNISA’s 2025 Impact Rankings surged, hitting a 66.3 score on UN Sustainable Development Goals, landing in the global top quartile for Decent Work, Quality Education, and Gender Equality. It’s now 7th among South Africa’s 13 universities, with research quality scores climbing and publication output holding strong.
Student success? A staggering 65,000 graduates this year alone – one-third of all South African university completers – including 512 PhDs and 922 Master’s degrees. Financially, unqualified audits since 2018 scream prudence, not profligacy. Under LenkaBula, UNISA inked a landmark structuring agreement with Canada’s INRS and iThemba Labs, turbocharging research in nuclear sciences and innovation. She’s keynoted the African Astronomical Society Conference, launched G20 community initiatives, and opened the 2025 Management Lekgotla – all while championing decolonial education in indigenous languages.
Her reappointment for a second term, effective January 2026, wasn’t a rubber stamp – it was a resounding vote of confidence from the council, signaling stability amid the noise. “We’ve reclaimed our space as an African university in service of humanity,” LenkaBula declared at the 150th anniversary gala in 2023, a vision now bearing fruit.
The Deeper Cut: Bias in the Boardroom
Lurking beneath the ledger lines is a uglier truth: gendered sabotage. The “Slay Queen” trope? It’s not harmless banter; it’s a calculated diminishment, as feminist academics have argued, mirroring attacks on women of color who dare to lead. LenkaBula, with her PhD in ethics from the University of the Free State and stints as Dean at Wits, isn’t some neophyte she’s a scholar-warrior. Yet rumors of her “unqualification” persist, unsubstantiated echoes from a 2021 EFF protest that weaponized frustration into fiction.
This isn’t abstract; it’s existential. As UNISA’s council noted in a recent statement, the failed administration bid risked “potential harm” to the institution’s autonomy a harm that could have gutted its role as the “people’s university,” educating half a million learners annually, many from marginalized townships.
A Legacy Reclaimed
Prof. Puleng LenkaBula isn’t just defending UNISA; she’s redefining it. From virtual graduations that outshone contact universities during the pandemic to AI-driven proctoring that curbs cheating, her reforms are the quiet revolution the assessor overlooked. As Deputy President Paul Mashatile urged at the sesquicentennial: Reflect, adapt, lead. She’s doing just that.
In a sector where only a handful of VCs are women, LenkaBula’s story is South Africa’s story: transformation tested by fire. The scandals? Overhyped footnotes. The smears? Smoke without fire. What’s left is a leader whose ledger of achievements rankings up, graduates out, partnerships forged proves the naysayers wrong. UNISA’s comeback isn’t luck; it’s LenkaBula’s legacy in the making.
