c) North West University . The university was commended for having good governance and good performance in terms of graduation and throughput rate. . The university was also commended for a successful merger, research outputs and increased number of academic staff with PhDs especially at Mafikeng Campus. . It emerged that the SRC was extremely concerned with the fee increment of 10.3% and it was not properly consulted regarding the increment. The registration fee for students living in residence was R11 000 and R6800 for other students. According to the SRC, students from disadvantaged families were denied access as result of the expensive registration fee. . It was noted with concern that students who owed the university were being excluded and the majority of these students were from disadvantaged backgrounds. The Committee advised the university not to exclude academically deserving students. . Social cohesion remained a serious challenge in the university. The transformation plan was inadequately implemented and this was raised by various stakeholders of the university. Although the university merged with former disadvantaged institutions, 75% of students at the Potchefstroom Campus were Afrikaans speakers. . Staff Association (Union which represented workers at Mafikeng Campus) was deregistered by the Department of Labour owing to its challenges of affiliation with Federation of Unions of South Africa (FEDUSA). . It emerged that the university was highly commercialised, having ownership of a nearby shopping complex, service station, apartments and a number of partnerships with private sector that generated income for the university. . The Committee was concerned that the Institutional Forum of the university did not adequately exercise its mandate and its representation did not reflect the demographics of the university. . It was noted with concern that the university did not provide adequate academic support to its students registered at NIHE in Kimberley. . It emerged that the NSFAS shortfall at the university for the 2013 academic year was R100 million and this would affect about 2000 students. As a result, the university disbursed full NSFAS bursary to fewer students leaving others with huge debts owed to the university.