A concerning number of institutions have been questioned regarding issues of corruption, maladministration, mismanagement and governance. This includes two TVET colleges and nine public universities and universities of technology.
Multiple concerns have been raised about the state of governance at the University of Cape Town (UCT). These concerns are currently being investigated by the Panel, and the Department continues to monitor the University.
Governance concerns emerged following the exit of the former Deputy Vice-Chancellor (VC), Lis Lange, in April 2022. Questions began to surface from the University Senate regarding her reasons for departure, as she was just one of the senior staff members to have departed in recent months.
The Council Chair’s response sparked more questions and led to accusations that the VC had not been truthful. This tension made it into the media, resulting in the resignation of several members of the Council.
Establishment Of A Panel To Investigate Governance Issues
Following these events, on 11 October 2022, the Minister requested a report from the Chairperson of the Council on how these matters were being handled.
A panel of five independent members was established to investigate the circumstances of these challenges at the university.
In November 2022, it was reported that the Panel was being established and members were being appointed, however, many stakeholders believed that the appointment of an Independent Assessor would be more appropriate.
The Panel has been tasked with investigating the following:
- whether the VC and the Chairperson of the Council misled Faculty Boards, Senate and/ or Council regarding the reasons for the departure of the former DVC, and;
- all matters related to executive relationships, including the number of, and reasons for resignations of staff within and outside the executive.
The Panel was then required to make recommendations that could be used to help prevent any further issues of governance.
The Resignation Of The Former VC
Council then adopted a resolution accepting and approving the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between the institution and the former VC, Professor Phakeng, to determine an appropriate way for the Panel to consider and investigate issues of governance that have affected and are affecting the University without specifically investigating the conduct of the former VC.
Phakeng then announced early retirement leading to the appointment of an interim VC, Professor Daya Reddy.
In order to avoid breaching the MoA entered into with the former VC, the investigation is to exclude any consideration of whether the former VC committed any disciplinary offence. Instead, it will focus on the following:
- The circumstances regarding the resignation or retirement of executive members, with the specific purpose of finding out whether executive relations and the governance failures within the Council, contributed to these departures
- Whether any unfairness, breaches of labour law or UCT Statute, regulations and policies occurred, whether any remedy is possible and practicable, and whether there are policy gaps that need rectifying; and
- The role of the Council in dealing with the Ombud report and subsequent reports, and whether there were any failures of governance that still need to be addressed.
While the former VC will not be required to submit any evidence or appear before the Panel, relevant evidence and findings surrounding her actions submitted will not be disregarded by the Panel.
Findings Of The Interim Report
These investigations by the Panel are currently in progress, with the Panel intending to complete its work by 14 July 2023, however, it reserves the option to extend this deadline if necessary.
An Interim Report was submitted on 17 May 2023, recommending the removal of Ms Ngonyama as the UCT Chairperson of Council. Although she filed an urgent review application, she ended up resigning with immediate effect on 22 May 2023.
The Department has allowed the Panel to finish its investigation and the Council will hand over the Report to the Minister in due time.
The Minster will then review the findings and consider the actions that are to be taken as guided by the prescripts of the Act.
