The battle of the two Brians
Millions spent and many prayers wasted in attempts to heal rifts at University of Western Cape
NOT even pleas for divine intervention by Archbishop Thabo Makgoba could heal the rift at the top of the University of the Western Cape.
Apart from losing about R20million last year when students burnt buildings, the institution has spent R2-million on litigation involving its former council chairman, Brian Williams.
This was after chancellor Makgoba’s intervention and “prayer for guidance” failed to salvage the relationship between Williams and former vice-chancellor Professor Brian O’Connell.
And UWC might be back in court soon after Williams’s recent firing.
A report commissioned by the council paints a grim picture of the battle of the Brians, which rendered the council impotent.
The document, which emerged this week, was written by a panel of “eminent persons” including Archbishop Emeritus Njongonkulu Ndungane.
It portrays O’Connell as an arrogant academic and Williams as a micromanager. Council meetings were reduced to mudslinging and economic interests were at play, with the UWC procurement budget topping R2-billion, it says.
“The chair is described as too intrusive and tended to micromanage the running of the institution,” the report reads.
“He interferes with administration staff as well as the secretariat he highly distrusted. He also sits on far too many powerful university committees, including tender, finance, appointments [and] executive.
“He was accused of operating through lobbying and promises of largesse to those who supported him. The chair was also perceived to be using the university as a political power base.”
About O’Connell, the report says: “A major criticism . . . was that he came across as resenting, ‘INTRUSIVE’: Former council chairman Brian Williams as well as resisting, accountability to council. He was described as arrogant towards and contemptuous of council. [He] often comes across as selfconscious and angry, without any acknowledgement of council’s authority.”
Williams took the university to court after he was removed as council chairman in September 2013, and was reinstated.
An affidavit by Makgoba, who tried to mend relations between the two academics, described Williams as manipulative.
“I would say in my respectful opinion that [Williams] is highly intelligent but an extremely manipulative character.
“Importantly, however, if I compare [Williams] and [O’Connell], then there is no doubt that it is [O’Connell] who has contributed enormously over the past years or so to the growth and development of the university,” said Makgoba. The eminent persons’ report, adopted by the council in May last year, recommended that Williams voluntarily relinquish his chairmanship of the council and other university committees. He refused. The council opted to suspend the recommendation until the end of 2015 on condition he “takes responsibility for his role in the disputes which arose over the past few years and pledge his cooperation in acting in a manner that befits a council member”. ‘ARROGANT’: Former vicechancellor Brian O’Connell
O’Connell retired and handed the reins to Professor Tyrone Pretorius in 2014. But tensions remained.
Williams was suspended in January with convocation president Songezo Maqula after the student representative council complained that they had addressed students without its knowledge or that of the vicechancellor during #FeesMustFall protests in October last year.
Williams claimed he had gone to pray with students, but video evidence is said to show that he and Maqula “associated themselves with the conduct of violent protesters”. Maqula is alleged to have posted a message of support for students on Facebook on November 4 that read, in part, “Keep the fire on”.
Williams and Maqula have challenged their suspension in the high court and the matter is pending. But the council fired Williams last week after investigating his role in the protests.
UWC spokesman Luthando Tyhalibongo said the students caused damage of more than R20-million and Williams had taken UWC to court three times since 1995, costing the institution about R2-million in legal bills.
Williams dismissed his axing as an unlawful attempt to silence critical voices and said he would challenge it in court. He would not comment about the contents of the eminent persons’ report. “There has been a high-level falsification of information. Even good people who do not know the truth have been unwittingly caught in elaborate distortions. Thus far, the high court has been the only place for the discernment of fact from fiction.”
The saga does not seem likely to end soon, and Tyhalibongo said UWC was aware of Williams’s intention to challenge his dismissal in court.
“Williams should have negotiated with the university and not hastened to court in an allor-nothing fashion, forcing the university to incur costs.”
O’Connell declined to comment.
The high court has been the only place for discernment of fact from fiction