Unusual meetings between Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) and the SA Dental Technicians Council (SADTC) as well as a strange payment to council president have added a layer of controversy in the saga of unregistered black dental technicians and technologists.
Sunday World reported two weeks ago that the current and former Tshwane, Durban and Cape Peninsula universities of technology’s black students’ employability has been frustrated by the council’s failure to register them. As a consequence, more than 500 of these students are unable to find a job or open their own dental laboratories.
Now a Sunday World informant has since alleged that in February 2020, the council demanded that the TUT appoint its then education committee chair, Peter Owen, and pay him a fee to help the students register. Registration is a requirement before graduates can land employment.
The informant said that the council invited TUT bosses to meet its accreditation panel to discuss the approvals for its diploma curriculum. At this meeting, the appointment of Owen was discussed, while the students were encouraged to buy their study guides from the council. This was a few months before Owen was appointed council president in 2020.
On March 10, 2020, Owen wrote to TUT to enquire if the workshop was still on, and he was assured it would take place at the Royal Elephant Hotel on March 12 and 13, 2020. In the confirmation, Owen was asked to send an invoice for R10 000 for the two days and was assured that TUT would require more services from him in the future.
In the invoice that Sunday World has seen, Owen provided a Standard Bank account for receipt of payment. He further indicated that his travel costs would be invoiced separately.
After the workshop, “TUT submitted its reviewed curriculum for year 1 of the Diploma to the SADTC…” which was approved in September 2020.
A July 19, 2022 document, which Sunday World has seen, indicates: “In February 2022, TUT was requested by the SADTC that the study guides for years 1–3 should be redesigned on the new templates provided. Included were the exit-level outcomes, which were shared with TUT in January 2022. These exit-level outcomes were expected to be used exactly as is in the revised study guides,” said TUT.
Former council member Mzimkhulu Mcuba told Sunday World that nobody took his concerns about the plight of the black students seriously.
Instead of responding to the allegations, Owen lambasted this reporter about a previous story. At the time of publication, he hadn’t accepted the invitation to comment.
