SU defends progress made to combat GBV

WHILE a Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) report has found that Stellenbosch University's (SU) gender-based violence (GBV) policy is not gender-sensitive and makes no provision for incidents of bullying, the institution said it believes they have made progress in addressing GBV.

This comes as CGE chief executive officer Jamela Ellen Robertson briefed the portfolio committee on higher education, science and technology on Wednesday about an investigation that targeted gender transformation within various institutions of higher learning.

SU was one of the institutions that were probed between 2019 and 2020.

CGE stated that the institution was not in line with the guidelines as contained in the Code of Good Practice on the Handling of Sexual Harassment Cases in the Workplace, 2005.

However, SU's spokesperson, Martin Viljoen said the university had declared a zero-tolerance approach to GBV.

Robertson's complaints reported to the commission came from both employees in the sector and students.

“The aim of the investigation was for the commission to gain proper understanding on gender dynamics and slow pace of gender transformation within the various institutions of higher learning.

“It had also been observed that there were low levels of compliance with legislation that specifically targeted gender transformation,” she said.

According to Robertson, it was discovered that while transformation took place at SU, it was at a “very slow” pace.

“There is still a greater representation of men in many of the senior positions as opposed to women. There is a limited budget in relation to gender transformation programmes, as a majority of the budget goes to remuneration as opposed to programmes.

“The student placement policy further makes no mention of persons with disabilities being accommodated,” said Robertson.

In response, Viljoen added: “Much work has been done to implement new representative structures that will significantly improve the reporting and investigation of all GBV and related incidents, and the monitoring and evaluation of all efforts in this regard across the university.

“The detailed Equality Unit report and plan that unfolded over the past year, notwithstanding the constraints and impact of the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic, will soon be presented to the Rectorate.”

He said the institution's residence placement policy strove as far as possible to allocate places to the most vulnerable students whose chances of success would improve if they were placed in a residence.