UCT ends spat with Noakes

UCT has said it now considers the public spat between its health department and sport scientist Tim Noakes closed.

Following the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) committee upholding not guilty findings against Noakes’ case of alleged unprofessional conduct, the world’s leading proponent of the Banting diet said he had fought the legal battle to retrieve his academic and scientific legacy, which had been “so cruelly harmed by the actions of, among many others, senior members of the Faculty of Health Sciences of UCT”.

The university responded yesterday, saying: “With respect to the dismissal of the HPCSA appeal on Friday, June 8, 2018, the University of Cape Town will continue to respect the process under way, and will not comment further.”

Noakes said it would have been appreciated if UCT had apologised to him, his wife and family, including his late parents, who had supported UCT for more than 40 years.

“This is a surprising comment, as the matter is finalised... Hopefully, after she takes charge, the new vice-chancellor will see the matter for what it is and will understand what is the right action for UCT to take,” Noakes said.

In a letter sent to the Cape Times in 2014, UCT had said: “It is therefore a serious concern that Professor Timothy Noakes, a colleague respected for his research in sports science, is aggressively promoting this diet as a ‘revolution’, making outrageous, unproven claims about disease prevention, and maligning the integrity and credibility of peers who criticise his diet for being evidence-deficient and not conforming to the tenets of good and responsible science.”