A meeting of the University of Cape Town’s council on Saturday was thrown into disarray after the deputy chair Pheladi Gwangwa refused to recuse herself.
During a heated debate lasting more than three-and-a-half hours, members deliberated over her refusal to recuse herself.
The agenda item to discuss whether the chair of the council, Babalwa Ngonyama, and the vice-chancellor Prof Mamokgethi Phakeng, had misled council and senate and to investigate the resignation of senior staff at UCT, which started at noon yesterday, ended just after 8pm.
According to close sources, members continued with the meeting under protest after Gwangwa’s refusal to recuse herself.
A motion for the establishment of a panel of five independent members was eventually passed last night.
This came amid threats by UCT’s Academics Union to institute legal action against Phakeng, Ngonyama and Gwangwa if they failed to recuse themselves from the process of appointing an independent investigation.
Matters came to a head recently after a senate meeting on September 30 at which allegations were made about Ngonyama’s conduct, which allegedly led to the departure of Prof Lis Lange, the deputy vice-chancellor of teaching and learning.
The senate comprises more than 300 members who are appointed to represent the university as a whole.
Ngonyama reportedly told the senate meeting that Lange wanted to leave for personal reasons but Lange strongly disputed this in a letter, insisting that Ngonyama forced her to resign.
An official announcement by Gwangwa last Friday said that during a meeting between Ngonyama and Lange on January 3 to discuss the possibility of Phakeng’s reappointment as vice-chancellor, Lange “became abrasive, aggressive and abusive, making clear her own ambition to succeed Phakeng”.
In a special council meeting last Thursday, 14 members supported a motion to establish an independent panel headed by a retired judge to probe allegations raised by members during the September 30 senate meeting.
But an alternative motion proposing an internal investigation by a subcommittee of council was carried.
However, last Saturday, a day after 13 members of council publicly dissociated themselves from the council’s decision, Ngonyama announced that she had decided to call for an independent investigation led by a retired judge.
“I will ask council to reconsider its decision of October 6 in the interest of a process that has credibility and stakeholder buy in.”
Meanwhile, Prof Kelley Moult, president of the Academics Union which has 650 members, said: “It also appears that those with a personal interest in the investigation, including Phakeng, Ngonyama and Gwangwa, will be involved in appointing the independent investigator and determining the terms of reference.
“This is unacceptable. All those conflicted should have no further role in the investigation. The scope of the independent investigation, identity of investigator and terms of reference must be determined by non-conflicted members of council.”
She said that council must also reaffirm the senate’s important and independent role in safeguarding the integrity of governance checks and balances at UCT.
The Academics Union demanded in a lawyer ’s letter sent to the council on Monday that Phakeng, Ngonyama and Gwangwa “must recuse themselves from all further processes related to the matters in which they have a conflict of interest”.
Andrea PLoS, president of the UCT Employees Union, said they had experienced a tough year with executive management as the union had to refer “an unprecedented number of labour matters to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration”.
“There has been a wave of resignations and early retirements in the professional administrative support and service staff.”
She said seven directors had resigned, taken early retirement or are in the process of taking early retirement, adding: “This is an unprecedented phenomenon.”
On Tuesday, higher education minister Blade Nzimande asked the council to furnish him with a report on the matter.
UCT spokesperson Elijah Moholola said leadership remains focused on taking the matter forward through the established appropriate structures “in a credible process that will have stakeholder buy-in”.
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