The appellant, Mr Dinkwanyane Kgalema Mohuba, was employed by the University of Limpopo and was accepted in 2016 as a doctoral student for a Doctor of Commerce degree. His thesis proposal was approved, his thesis assessed, and the relevant university committee recommended in March 2018 that the degree be awarded. Complaints were subsequently lodged by members of the university Senate and a committee, alleging that statutory and institutional requirements for the completion of a doctorate, including minimum registration periods, had not been met. Following an internal investigation, the university refused to confer the degree and terminated the appellant’s registration in October 2018. The appellant instituted action in the High Court seeking specific performance of an alleged tacit contract, namely an order directing the university to confer the degree. The university raised a special plea contending that its decisions constituted administrative action under PAJA and that the claim was incompetent without prior judicial review. The High Court upheld the special plea and dismissed the claim, leading to the appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal.
The appeal was upheld. The High Court’s order upholding the special plea and dismissing the claim was set aside and replaced with an order that the issues raised in the special plea be determined at trial. The matter was remitted to the High Court for trial. Each party was ordered to pay its own costs in respect of both the special plea proceedings and the appeal.
The case clarifies that disputes between students and universities often involve a complex mix of contractual and administrative law elements and should not lightly be disposed of on procedural grounds such as special pleas. It underscores the caution required before characterising university decisions as administrative action subject to PAJA at a preliminary stage. The judgment also provides important guidance on the limited and careful use of separation of issues under rule 33(4) where factual and legal questions are closely intertwined.