5. Observations 5.1 Walter Sisulu University . The Committee was extremely concerned that the university operated on a deficit of R135 million due to poor financial planning and the exploitation of resources for individual interest by previous management. The university liabilities exceeded its current assets by R356 million and its current reserves were critically low (the university was literally bankrupt). . The university was placed under administration in November 2011 following the report of the Independent Assessor's report and Prof L van Staden was appointed to rescue the institution from total collapse. . Since the appointment of the Administrator in November 2011, university stakeholders such as Labour Unions and the SRC were of the opinion that the university's state of affairs were deteriorating. Some of the major allegations raised included the excessive use of consultants, a conflict of interest in the companies appointed to render services to the university, irregular appointments of senior managers and the lack of engagements between the Administrator and university stakeholders. . The demand for financial assistance at WSU far exceeded its supply, which resulted in the NSFAS allocation being spread too thinly to as many students as possible. It emerged that 82% of student funding came from the NSFAS allocation since the majority of students at the university came from disadvantaged backgrounds. The situation had become so severe that there were no meal vouchers for some NSFAS bursary beneficiaries. . The Department, through the National Skills Fund (NSF), allocated R310 million in December 2011 to support to the growing demand for financial aid which brought a huge relief to the university. . It emerged that the institution had not actually merged and that it was unable to harmonize human resource management systems. The different campuses were still adhering to their pre-merger human resource and administrative systems. . Financial instability has had significant impact on the teaching and learning output in the university and that academic success, as measured by pass rates (68% compared to the national average of 80%), graduation rates (18% compared to the national average of 23%) remained a serious concern. . Overcrowding in lecture rooms was a reality in the university owing to inadequate infrastructure. The university had reached its carrying capacity in terms of student population in the campus and infrastructure backlog was enormous. The university required R1 billion to address the infrastructure backlog. . Safety and security was a serious concern in the university. Intruders were able to gain access to the university since there was no adequate fencing and security personnel visibility. As a result, three students lost their lives owing to criminal activities this year alone. The Administrator submitted a R15 million bid to the Department for palisade fencing around the university. . The shortage of lecturers was highlighted as a main concern of students. There were no Tutors in the university. Student Support Services were in a state of collapse and academic exclusions remained a concern.