By McGeorge Mbare
South Africans have expressed their anger across social media platforms following a post by a digital creator Kommander Josh III alleging that the University of Fort Hare has hired 35 non South Africans for top lectureship positions.
Kommander Josh published 8 Zimbabwean names and 27 Nigerian nationals alleged to have been hired at the University of Fort Hare’s top positions in the expense of the South Africans.
This comes amid South Africa ‘s documented crisis, where there has been several protests against foreigners and xenophobic attacks as locals accuse migrants of taking their jobs
Meanwhile, the University of Fort Hare has released a statement dismissing the allegations, labeling them as a xenophobic disinformation campaign.
“The University of Fort Hare strongly condemns an inflammatory and xenophobic post that digital creator Kommander Josh III created and posted on X formerly known as Twitter on May 04, 2025.The post is dangerous act of disinformation, intending to misleading the public through distortion of outdated information and the engineering of a false and misleading narrative about the profile of UFH…,” University of Fort Hare stated.
Coming to the 35 names the digital creator published, the university boldly highlighted that some of them never exist in the database dating back to 2005.
“The vast majority of people mentioned in this post has no association with the University of Fort Hare. Of the 35 names mentioned, 12 people could not be found on the University ICT records dating as back as 2005. In addition fourteen (14)of the 35 named in this post either have retired or resigned from the institution,” University of Fort Hare added.
The University of Fort Hare (UFH) holds a profound place in the chronicles of African history and education, with its rich history and heritage embodying significant cultural, political, and educational narratives.
Many notable non South Africans such as Robert Mugabe, Herbert Chitepo and the first black Zimbabwean medical doctor Tichafa Samuel Parirenyatwa are products of University of Fort Hare.