Parliament weighs in on UCT’s big Phakeng-Ngonyama failed leadership mess

There was some tension on Wednesday when the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Science and Innovation met with University of Cape Town (UCT) leaders to consider the damning findings and recommendations of an independent panel investigation into governance matters at the institution.  

The committee said stakeholders at the university needed to up their game after the panel report that laid bare serious governance issues involving, in the main, former vice-chancellor Mamokgethi Phakeng and former council chair Babalwa Ngonyama. 

Read Daily Maverick’s full breakdown of the governance crisis at UCT: 

Dark days: Accusations of capture and governance instability rock UCT

Independent report spits fire at UCT’s recent leadership, blasting Mamokgethi Phakeng 

University Governance 101 — takeaway lessons from UCT’s big Phakeng mess 

Some committee members said Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande should consider appointing an independent assessor to look into the report after the SRC, two unions and some of the MPs raised concerns about the report’s independence and recommendations.

Committee Chair ​Nompendulo Mkhatshwa later attempted to clarify things when addressing the UCT Council chair, Norman Arendse:

“Chair, we’re not saying we must interrogate the work that the panel did; we’re actually saying there must be a whole new process that is led by an independent assessor. We are not calling for administration either — I’m not saying this institution must be run by someone on your behalf, that’s not what we are saying. 

“We are saying we are fine with that, but there are these issues that need to be nipped in the bud, and the only way we can do it is if we understand their root cause and find a way to pave the best way forward. That’s what we mean when we call for an independent assessor.” 

The independent panel was chaired by retired judge Lex Mpati with retired Judge Azhar Cachalia, public sector governance expert Trish Hanekom and Wits transformation head Bernadette Johnson.

The report released last week excoriates Phakeng. It paints a picture of a narcissistic and thin-skinned leader who exploited and encouraged racial divisions — talking up a narrative of racial empowerment in public while saving some of her worst abuse for black women in private.

The panel was scorching in its condemnation of Phakeng and Ngonyama, stating: “To conclude that Ngonyama and Phakeng’s conduct during this period amounted to a governance failure would be an understatement.” 

Phakeng “repeatedly conducted herself unprofessionally by engaging in activity that is prohibited in the UCT workplace, including using threats, intimidation, ethnic slurs, personal insults and also posting racially offensive material on social media”, the report concluded.

Her behaviour was aided and protected by Ngonyama’s multiple breaches of good governance, the report revealed. The report also found “Ngonyama’s conduct in failing to perform her fiduciary duty to UCT” sufficiently concerning that it recommended the businesswoman “be reported to the appropriate regulatory authorities”.

The panel heard the transcribed equivalent of 3,825 pages of oral evidence from 27 witnesses, read 1,671 pages of written statements from additional witnesses, and considered a further 478 pages of documentary evidence. The period it looked at ran from January 2018 to December 2022.

Phakeng said earlier on social media she was studying the report with her legal team. Ngonyama has denied the allegations against her and said via her legal representatives: “They are one-sided, unverified and untested, leading to the unlawful damage and defamation inflicted upon my dignity, reputation and character, which is profound.”

Professor Elelwani Ramugondo and conflict of interest

University’s response

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