#FeesMustFall# movement in the post-apartheid era: legitimacy battle for leaders

PurposeUnderpinned by institutional legitimacy, this study explores how South African public university senior managers struggled to maintain legitimacy during an unplanned radical change process.Design/methodology/approachGioia's grounded theory analysis approach is employed to analyse interviews with 37 senior managers of public-funded universities in South Africa.FindingsThis study's findings show that a change without proper planning severely damages institutions in all aspects of leadership's normative, empirical, moral and pragmatic legitimacy.Research limitations/implicationsThis study contributes to the literature on legitimacy by illustrating the importance of institutional legitimacy during unplanned social change and the factors that negate legitimacy.Originality/valueThough other legitimacy models have been well developed, they do not apply to such unplanned social change in organisations. This study shows a different angle of the legitimacy crisis under unplanned social change conditions.