CPUT loses urgent court bid over dental programme suspension

Cape Peninsula University of Technology lost an urgent bid to interdict the South African Dental Technicians from seeking permission from Health Minister Aaron Motsolaedi to suspend its dental technology programme pending a review in another court.

The Western Cape High Court has dismissed an urgent bid by the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) to interdict the South African Dental Technicians Council (SADTC) from seeking consent from Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi to suspend its dental technology programme pending a review in the Gauteng division.

CPUT launched the urgent application after the SADTC asked it to make representations why the programme should not be suspended pending fulfilment of the conditions of accreditation.

In papers filed in court, CPUT said the SADTC’s August decision to notify it of its intention to request Motsoaledi’s consent for the suspension of the programme should be declared unlawful and unconstitutional.

It told the court that it, along with the Durban University of Technology and Tshwane University of Technology, has a pending application to review the accreditation criteria of the SADTC for the programme at the Gauteng Division.

In opposing the application, the SADTC cited lack of urgency and absence of merits that justify the relief sought.

It also argued in court that the Western Cape High Court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the matter and that the interdict was to stop a procedural process that was underway and not finalised.

The dispute over the dental technology programme dates back to December 2020 when CPUT was granted conditional accreditation for the programme for the first year pending submitting required documentation in the first quarter of 2021.

When the university relocated its laboratory facilities in 2025 from Tygerberg Hospital to its campus, its new building had to comply with accreditation requirements, which experienced delays in securing all the requisite certificates from various authorities.

In March 2026, the SADTC announced that CPUT’s dental technology programme was suspended and the Western Cape High Court granted an interim interdict suspending Motsoaledi’s consent to the suspension of the programme pending the final determination of the review application.

In August, CPUT was served with a fresh notice, informing it of the SADTC’s intention to request the minister’s consent to suspend the programme until CPUT met the conditions of prescribed accreditation.

The university was given 30 days to make representations, but it demanded, among other things, the retraction of the suspension notice before launching the application when their demand was rejected.

In a judgment delivered on Tuesday, Acting Judge Zuko Luvo Mapoma did not find the SADTC challenge on the court’s jurisdiction enjoying any merit.

“I am therefore satisfied that this court has the necessary jurisdiction to determine the application at hand,” Mapoma said.

He noted that CPUT had submitted that it will not have substantial redress and that SADTC has already made up its mind to suspend the programme as it had announced in March, while the council maintained the university furnished it with documentation to prepare for representation ahead of the deadline.

Mapoma stated that CPUT spent the notice period gathering information to litigate instead of complying with the lawful regulatory process of a statutory body. 

“As such, the delay cannot be justified by the sudden urgency of the matter. In my view, the conduct bears the attributes of a self-created urgency.

“In the circumstances, I am not persuaded that the application meets the threshold of urgency, and ordinarily the matter should be struck from the roll,” he said.

Mapoma also said the suspension notice was initiating a regulatory consultative process and the SADTC exercised its statutory powers and simply notified CPUT of its intention to request Motsoaledi’s consent and invited it to engage. 

“CPUT has no prima facie right to refuse to participate in a statutory process of the Council, in performance of its regulatory functions.”

He further said he did not find harm in CPUT participating in the statutory process as doing so will provide the SADTC with reasonable alternatives to the suspension of the programme. 

"CPUT will be afforded an opportunity to be heard in both Councils and later the Ministers’ decision-making stage. The outcome of these stages will depend largely on the representations made by CPUT.”

“The court’s view is that CPUT’s alternative remedy to the relief sought is clear. It lies in the CPUT’s participation in the council’s statutory process, by making representations against the suspension of the programme and proposing plausible alternative solutions,” he said when he dismissed the application with costs.

CPUT spokesperson Lauren Kansley and Department of Health spokesperson Foster Mohale did not immediately comment as they were to consult their institutions’ legal departments.

The SADTC could not be reached for comment.