With punitive costs and a decisive High Court rebuke, the University of South Africa’s leadership must now navigate intensified investigative reporting as ednews.africa and media allies push to expose governance failures and protect academic voices.
The Pretoria High Court last Thursday dismissed an urgent application by UNISA, led by Vice-Chancellor Professor Puleng LenkaBula, seeking to gag journalist Edwin Naidu and the publication ednews.africa, marking a significant victory for media freedom during National Women’s Month in South Africa.
The court struck the matter from the roll for lack of urgency and ordered punitive costs against UNISA, finding no basis for the institution’s attempt to force the removal of articles and restrict further reporting.
The ruling protects a series of investigative reports published by ednews.africa detailing academic burnout, staff hospitalisations, and deaths linked to UNISA’s workload crisis following sweeping staff cuts.
Several media houses have since reported on UNISA’s failed gagging attempt, highlighting the growing governance issues at Africa’s largest learning institution.
Noisy entrant
The publication, launched on 4 February as part of Higher Education Media Services, has rapidly become a notable new entrant in the African media landscape, amassing 454 subscribers and more than 100,000 views in six months without advertising or external funding.
Despite its modest size, ednews.africa has broken major stories across the continent, from governance failures and campus unrest to leadership scandals and inspiring profiles of women in academia.
Leading South African outlets, including the Sunday Times, Mail & Guardian, and IOL, have republished its reporting, as have media outlets in Kenya, Rwanda, Zambia, eSwatini, and Malawi. Some of the reports on ednews.africa have been credited by broadcast and online media outlets when they followed up on breaking stories.
Varsity tensions
The attempted gag order follows earlier friction between universities and the publication.
Fort Hare threatened to personalise the arguments by taking to social media after multiple governance breaches reported in ednews.africa.
They do not respond to media enquiries.
Last week, Fort Hare was the subject of a complaint to Parliament after the Student Representative Council filed a complaint and three council members resigned in August.
Cape Peninsula University of Technology lodged a complaint with the Press Ombud over governance reporting, but the Ombud dismissed the case, affirming ednews.africa right to publish.
“ednews.africa acted within the Press Code and was justified in reporting on governance breaches at CPUT. The complaint is dismissed.”
Last week, the university shut down amid violent unrest, echoing the publication’s reports on declining governance in the sector. Students at CPUT have asked for a probe into the university’s finances.
Court ruling welcomed
Media freedom organisations welcomed the High Court’s decision. Nicole Fritz of the Campaign for Free Expression said journalists must be able to investigate public power “without unjustified legal restraints,” while SANEF’s Reggy Moalusi condemned the attempt to silence Naidu, calling it “yet another case where our courts are abused.”
According to Moxii Africa’s William Bird, the High Court’s decision affirms a core democratic principle: journalists must be free to report on matters of public interest without intimidation or legal overreach.
Power Law Africa’s Michael Power and Tina Power both labelled it a victory for media freedom. They agreed: “This outcome strengthens media freedom and protects the public’s right to know.”
For Naidu and his threeperson team, the ruling is both vindication and fuel. “We will not be intimidated,” he said.
“Your stories are our stories. Media is critical in any democracy, and passion, not deep pockets, is what drives impactful journalism.”
Naidu continues to face legal threats, including a defamation suit from a school principal accused of racism, but remains resolute: “Money can buy words, but not the truth.”
The UNISA case underscores the growing importance of independent, cross-border storytelling in a turbulent media era, where small, mission-driven outlets can still shape national debate and defend democratic accountability.
Showing Solidarity
Dirk Hermann, spokesperson for trade union Solidarity, said this is not only a victory for press freedom, but also for the truth and for Unisa employees.
“Solidarity’s own survey among its members confirms every word that ednews.africa wrote. The fact that it has been published now makes it possible to get answers.
The truth must be published so that we can achieve a better Unisa as the outcome. The court is not a place where you can obtain permission to suppress the truth.”
UNISA did not comment when asked about its reaction to the verdict and did not say whether it would accept an olive branch from ednews.africa and work transparently to build South Africa’s education ecosystem.
By Edwin Naidu
