UCT to launch probe into conduct of vice-chancellor and chairperson after gruelling council meeting

It took more than six hours for a meeting of the UCT council on Saturday, 15 October, to decide on the way forward after two weeks of turbulence amid the university’s current governance crisis.

But a vote of 17 to 7 ultimately carried the day. An independent panel will be established by the UCT council to probe the conduct of vice-chancellor Mamokgethi Phakeng and council chairperson Babalwa Ngonyama, as well as other issues related to working relations in UCT’s senior leadership team.

The panel will consist of five independent individuals and be chaired by a retired judge. Daily Maverick is reliably informed that nominations to the panel will be put forward by the council, with a small group of council members tasked with drawing up a list of proposed panellists and the relevant judge. The full council will approve the final panel.

A statement published by deputy chairperson of the council Pheladi Gwangwa after the meeting contains no mention of the panel being chaired by a retired judge. Gwangwa supported an alternative resolution in which a judge did not feature, but the resolution for which the majority of council members voted was clear that such a judge will chair the panel.

The omission of this crucial detail from Gwangwa’s summary of decisions taken is a reflection of the level of contestation in the meeting itself, in which Gwangwa herself became a central site of conflict when she refused to recuse herself from deliberations and the vote.

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Fraught with conflict

Daily Maverick understands that debate over Gwangwa’s recusal took up almost four hours of the meeting.

The argument for Gwangwa needing to recuse herself was premised on the fact that she chairs the university’s human resources (HR) committee, and some of the central allegations to be investigated by the panel — revolving around the departures of senior administrators — are HR related.

Fourteen dissenting council members, including UCT’s Dean of Law, Danwood Chirwa, had earlier released a statement objecting to Gwangwa’s conflict of interest in proceedings, and terming her a “central protagonist” in the issues to be probed by the panel.

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-10-07-uct-council-publicly-splits-over-governance-allegations-as-vc-and-chair-fail-to-recuse-themselves-from-vote/

A lawyer’s letter sent to the UCT council by the UCT Academics’ Union last week also demanded the recusal of Gwangwa — together with the vice-chancellor and chairperson — from the discussion on legal grounds.

Phakeng and Ngonyama agreed to recuse themselves accordingly, but Daily Maverick was informed by insiders that Gwangwa dismissed the legal opinions on the matter and refused to back down. Against the objection of 17 council members, Gwangwa continued to chair the meeting and vote on all resolutions.

Although the balance of power in the council had shifted over the past week to support an investigation into Phakeng and Ngonyama’s conduct, Daily Maverick understands there was still considerable pushback from a minority of council members. This diminished faction continued to press for an investigation of the UCT senate, on the inaccurate grounds that the body did not act procedurally in raising governance concerns at its most recent meeting.

The faction also wanted investigations into racism and misogyny, and pushed for the involvement of a wider UCT body called the Institutional Forum, which includes members elected by the Students’ Representative Council.

These ideas were ultimately rejected by the council majority.

Past UCT execs to be freed from NDAs

Daily Maverick understands that the specific process to be followed by the panel, as well as the investigation’s terms of reference, have yet to be determined. But matters will need to proceed quickly, since the panel is required to submit a detailed report to the council by 31 December 2022.

The panel is tasked with investigating:

• Whether vice-chancellor Phakeng and chairperson Ngonyama misled UCT’s governing bodies regarding the departure of former deputy vice-chancellor Lis Lange; and


• Issues relating to working relationships in the university’s senior leadership team, and the reasons for multiple recent resignations.

Importantly, the panel is authorised to speak to departed former executives even if they have signed non-disclosure agreements (NDAs).

The increasing use of NDAs at the university was one of the central issues exposed by Daily Maverick’s investigation into governance issues at UCT. The article’s publication a fortnight ago, on the back of a senate meeting raising similar matters, has led to an outpouring of concern.

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-10-03-dark-days-accusations-of-capture-and-governance-instability-rock-uct/

The report, which the investigating panel is to present to the council by 31 December 2022, must reach specific conclusions and recommend specific actions to be taken.

Phakeng defiant on social media

In a video posted to Twitter on Sunday, 16 October, after the outcome of the previous day’s council meeting, Phakeng declared herself happy to cooperate fully with the investigation — but said there were “two things” that concern her.

“The allegations keep shifting,” Phakeng claimed, and added that she was “keen to know who will be drafting the terms of reference” for the panel, since “no-one should ever be a jury or judge in their own case”.

This sentiment marks something of a departure for Phakeng, who previously refused to recuse herself from voting on the prospect of an investigation into her own conduct.

The vice-chancellor, who returned to Cape Town last week after cutting short her European sabbatical, has been retweeting expressions of support over the last fortnight under the hashtag #HandsOffPhakeng.

Daily Maverick understands that the subject of Phakeng’s recent tweeting was raised with concern at a meeting between the VC and academic deans late last week.

Among the posts retweeted by Phakeng recently was a claim that the governance concerns at UCT are being pushed by “white supremacists”.

In another tweet, Phakeng wrote that the pressure she had been under in 2020 had meant that she “almost went the Mayosi route”; a reference to the suicide of the former UCT Dean of Health Sciences Bongani Mayosi in 2018.

Mayosi’s family wrote to Phakeng this weekend to express their anger with her glib reference, accusing the vice-chancellor of exploiting their tragedy for “narcissistic reasons”.

The Mayosi family further accused Phakeng of “doing this for years”, terming her someone who possesses “an inflated sense of importance and intelligence, competence, education, knowledge and so on” but displays “a total lack of empathy, compassion and … emotional intelligence”.

News24 reported that UCT spokesperson Elijah Moholola claimed that the tweet in question was not actually posted by Phakeng, although it was posted on her account. DM