UCT’s international standing threatened by infighting
A toxic spat within the University of Cape Town management threatens to dethrone the university as Africa’s top tertiary institution.
That’s the verdict of current and former university management stakeholders, who spoke to the Sunday Times yesterday in the wake of a heated public fallout involving some of UCT’s top leaders.
Tension at the university this week prompted intervention from minister of higher education Blade Nzimande, who has requested a council report into the matter.
Council chair Babalwa Ngonyama was expected to confirm an independent probe into the university’s management affairs late on Saturday.
Current and former management stakeholders yesterday warned that the management drama was a threat to UCT’s international standing.
“UCT is a lodestar for Africa,” said one former senate member. “This kind of [management] instability might cause some people to seek calmer and better pastures elsewhere.”
International funding was also at risk should UCT not act swiftly to limit damage from the latest rift, sources said.
Divisions within the university’s leadership structures relate partly to the performance of the current vice-chancellor Mamokgethi Phakeng. The VC, appointed in 2018, has gathered both detractors and admirers, but notably received a bad review in a 2019 internal ombud report.
In the wake of the report, the university’s newly elected council committed itself to “enhancing the university’s governance and institutional culture”.
However tensions within leadership structures reignited again earlier this year, this time involving allegations that one of the university’s deputy vice-chancellors, Lis Lange, was sidelined by Phakeng.
The matter featured prominently at a stormy meeting last month of the university senate, which represents UCT’s academic community.
This led to discussion this week at the university’s apex structure, the university council, which represents the broader university community, including students and the department of education.
By a narrow margin, the council resolved to investigate why Lange’s grievances were aired at a senate meeting, rather than via the university’s internal grievance mechanisms.
Council’s decision prompted a further outcry and concerns about division within and between two key management structures. After the meeting a group of 13 dissenting council members issued a statement decrying the state of affairs and reserving the right to take legal action.
UCT chancellor Dr Precious Moloi-Motsepe
said yesterday the university was committed to global best practices relating to governance, transparency, ethics and accountability.
“Within the context of my titular and ceremonial responsibilities as chancellor, I’ve been engaging with various internal and external stakeholders to ensure that the respect and credibility that UCT enjoys globally, as an academic institution that upholds the highest standards of governance, transparency, ethics and accountability is maintained and enhanced,” she said.
“I will continue to engage with the leadership and other internal and external stakeholders of the university in relation to the current governance challenges.”
One council source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Phakeng was being unfairly targeted, possibly by those opposed to her views on transformation. “No leader is perfect. This is not about her, it is about what people are perceiving to be happening at UCT,” said the source.
However, other sources said the impasse was largely prompted by concerns about Phakeng’s management style that the current council had failed to deal with despite the ombud’s 2019 report.
In a statement this week, the university’s academic union said: “These events have serious implications for the reputation of the university and for the strength of our governance processes. They also undermine the cornerstones of a university institutional autonomy, academic freedom and the space for robust debate.”
In media reports this week, Nzimande’s spokesperson Ishmael Mnisi said: “The minister is concerned about UCT council activities as reported by the media. The department requested a formal report from the UCT council. After the report from the council, the minister and the department will formally comment on the developments at this institution.”