CPUT accused of delaying report

#FeesMustFall activists not called to testify before commission

THE Cape Peninsula University of Technology’s (CPUT) council is accused of stalling the release of a report that investigated the breakdown of relations between the CPUT council, senior management and students following violent protests between 2014 and 2017.

The Yekiso Commission, chaired by Judge James Yekiso and advocate Willem Heath SC, was established to investigate the poor performance of executive management in terms of service delivery and financial or other maladministration of a serious nature. The commission was tasked with formulating a report, with recommendations, by July 31.

The commission is set to hand over the report to the council, who will decide what will happen to the report. CPUT spokesperson Lauren Kansley said: “The Yekiso Commission process is ongoing, and as a result, the findings have not yet been presented to the CPUT council.” The university’s SRC president, Phathindwe Mncamase, said they were informed that the report would only be finalised in October.

“We are waiting. Some people couldn’t appear in front of the commission, thus causing a delay. We, as students, are mending the relationship with management and putting policies in place,” he said.

However, a former CPUT senior researcher, Dr Clive Kronenberg, and a #FeesMustFall activist, who declined to be named, both said the university was stalling. Kronenberg filed complaints with the commission but has not received any feedback on the outcomes of his complaint.

“I was hoping that the commission would have a decency to reply.

“We are waiting on the commission to come back with results, and how CPUT would react to those results. But, as we see, it is up to council. Thus, indicating that we are back to square one. “CPUT won’t utter a word. It is disappointing that we are not allowed to view the recommendation,” said Kronenberg.

A #FeesMustFall activist said the group was not called in by the commission, despite the national issue of fees being a cause of most of the protests during the period investigated by the commission.

“No #FeesMustFall activist outside political organisations or structures was called. The commission investigating council will hand over the report to the same council which is behind all of it. That is wrong.

“Nothing impartial can come from council. The Yekiso Commission was concluded a long time ago; the report is being cooked,” said the activist.

He claimed the council was “sitting on top of it” until they had finished manipulating it. During the violent protests, CPUT incurred damages to the Bellville Campus’ security control room, financial aid room and gate.

Kansley said the university was busy with an extensive refurbishment process. “Some of these buildings include the front façade of the Bellville Campus and the campus control office, which was burned in protest action. Cape Town Campus will also soon have a brand-new ClearVu Fence, which will cost around R6 million to install,” she said.

The #FeesMustFall activist said there were still some students who were suspended during the protests who had not been able to return to complete their studies.