Cape Town - An independent panel of five members, including a retired judge, is set to investigate key matters relating to recent developments at UCT.
The investigation comes after a majority of council members voted for UCT vice-chancellor Mamokgethi Phakeng and UCT council chair, Babalwa Ngonyama, to be investigated during a meeting on Saturday.
In a video posted to her social media on Sunday, Phakeng thanked her supporters.“Thank you so much for your support, you have no idea what it means to me. I wake up in the morning, I have WhatsApp’s and messages and it really means a lot in times like these, those messages keep me alive.
I hope the next generation of leaders learns from my mistakes and experiences. Stay focused and work hard - they will never take this away from you🙏![CDATA[]]>🏾 pic.twitter.com/T03jvl14S3
— Mamokgethi Phakeng🏳️🌈 (@FabAcademic) October 16, 2022
It is tough on the top but one can do it with the support.
“I am glad the investigation has been agreed on. I am looking forward to it. I am ready and willing to be interrogated, I am even quite happy to do it publicly so that the whole country can hear my side of the story,” Phakeng said.
Phakeng is accused of flouting governance processes, along with council chair Ngonyama, particularly regarding the resignation of deputy vice-chancellor Lis Lange.
They are accused of having misled the council concerning Lange’s departure.
The investigations comes amid reports of tensions at UCT, with claims that power, race, and governance issues are allegedly dividing top academics and leaders.
Deputy chair of council Pheladi Gwangwa said the investigation will focus on the departure of Lange and other related matters.
“Council undertook to establish a panel of five independent members to investigate key matters relating to recent developments at the university.
This investigation will focus on the circumstances related to the departure of a former UCT deputy vice-chancellor: teaching and learning, as well as matters related to executive relationships and resignations within and beyond the UCT executive management team.
The work of the independent panel needs to be undertaken urgently so that council receives a report by the end of this year,” said Gwangwa.
“Deliberations which led up to these decisions demonstrated the depth and complexity of the matters at hand.
“It is important to continue appealing to all members of the UCT community to remain committed to placing the interests of UCT above all else.
I request our community to allow this process to unfold so that the work that is required can be undertaken as expeditiously, thoroughly and fairly as possible to preserve the legacy of this great institution, which has, just this past week, maintained its position as the top ranked university on the Times Higher Education rankings”.
The BAC referred the Cape Times to a previous statement expressing support for an investigation into issues affecting governance at the university.
They had however noted the toxic environments in which Black leaders found themselves at higher academic institutions, saying the Senate was a particularly worrying case in point.
“Most of its members are white and dissenting voices are mainly male. This feeds into a particular version of toxicity, a misogynistic white masculine version one that is especially impatient with Black leaders, particularly Black females,” the BAC said.
“These kinds of tensions and toxicities are reflective of the need to pay more attention to who holds what kind of institutional power at UCT so that historically entrenched privileges, exclusions, traumas, and tensions along race and gender lines are not reproduced.”
Cape Times