The former international relations and cooperation minister, who has also served as minister of science and technology, said several universities could lose funding after severing ties with Israeli institutions and urged the South African government to offer financial support.

Pandor told the Science Forum South Africa in Pretoria last week that the sector was not immune to the impact of the toxic geopolitical environment.

“South Africa’s support for the struggle for [Palestinian] sovereignty has resulted in some key research initiatives that rely on international funding facing the threat of funds being withdrawn,” she said.

“This is reportedly happening to universities that have decided not to pursue links with institutions in Israel that have links to the military actions in Palestine.”

Pandor, who retired in June, said the department of science, technology and innovation must give attention to the impact of the withdrawal of funds on institutions and researchers and support them in identifying alternative resources.

The department co-hosted the Science Forum with the Science Diplomacy Capital for Africa initiative, under the theme Igniting Conversations about Science — Innovation and Science for Humanity.

Pandor called for the event to be more than “a mere talk shop”, urging delegates: “It must play a full role in advancing African capabilities and ensuring that Africa rising becomes a reality and not a populist slogan.”

Universities South Africa, the country’s representative body for 26 vice-chancellors at public institutions, confirmed that at least one university had experienced funding cuts over its stance on Gaza, without elaborating. It declined to comment further, saying the matter still had to be discussed among vice-chancellors and that each institution could speak for itself on its position.

Salim Vally, a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Johannesburg, said that any donors threatening to withdraw funds were indulging in academic blackmail.

“Universities must not be deterred and should remain true to their mission, which must be an ethical commitment to seeking the truth, social justice, human rights, anti-racism, solidarity and knowledge that benefits humanity,” he said.

“This is one of the ideals of knowledge for the public good.”

Vally believes Israel’s assault on Gaza, where all universities have been bombed and more than 12 000 students, plus scores of faculty members, have been killed, is a litmus test for all intellectuals, academics and university management.

He described as “cowardice” the refusal of some universities to take a stand against Israel and applauded Pandor’s attempts to mitigate any loss of funding from those that do.

“Taking a principled stand often comes with sacrifice,” added Vally, who is also a prominent human rights activist.

“South Africans who fought against our erstwhile apartheid regime and who called on the world to boycott apartheid state institutions know this well.”

Israel has faced an unprecedented academic boycott since it launched its war on Gaza in October last year, which has killed more than 44 500 Palestinians. A growing number of European universities are among those taking action.

Earlier this year, the International Science Council (ISC) updated its position on academic boycotts, described as a collective protest by an academic community or institution to express disapproval of other academics or institutions, or to put pressure on them to meet demands.

“The ISC, as a general principle, does not endorse academic boycotts,” the statement said, citing article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its own Principles of Freedom and Responsibility in Science.

“Exceptions to the general principle will be considered by the ISC governing board when there are clear and systemic violations of human rights,” it added.

This story was produced by SciDev.Net’s Global desk.

UCT had budgeted R9 million for the probe into the allegations but, unknown to the panel, led by retired supreme court of appeal president judge Lex Mpati, the council made overtures to Phakeng, offering her a retirement package which would see her leave in 2024. 

The offer letter was sent on behalf of the council from Halton Cheadle of Cape Town law firm Bradley Conradie Halton Cheadle on 10 February. It said the council had agreed the day before on the disbandment of the panel and the withdrawal of all allegations against Phakeng. 

The letter, seen by the Mail & Guardian, said the council would withdraw all allegations giving rise to the issues before the panel, including that she misled the UCT senate and played a role in the resignations of some executives.

Phakeng and council chairperson Babalwa Ngonyama were accused of misleading the university’s executive and senate about the reasons for the departure of deputy vice-chancellor for teaching and learning, Associate Professor Lis Lange. 

“Further to discussions between Professor Phakeng and Mr Chris Brink on a possible settlement between her and the university, the council of the university resolved on 9 February 2023 to authorise the chair of council, Ms Babalwa Ngonyama, to make the following offer of settlement to resolve all disputes between the university and Professor Phakeng, which, if agreed, is conditional upon council’s approval,” the letter reads.

Phakeng had until close of business on 14 February to accept the offer, which would have seen her take early retirement on 28 February 2024. Her refusal to sign allegedly prompted threats from the council of suspension. However, on Friday, the university and council chair Ngonyama said Phakeng had not been suspended. 

“No, that’s not correct. She is not suspended,” Ngonyama, who is abroad, said via WhatsApp. Ngonyama, herself, had been the focus of investigation but was mandated by council members to give Phakeng the deal. It is not known what has happened to the charges against her.

Among the top-earning vice-chancellors in the country, Phakeng, who succeeded Max Price in July 2018, receives a salary of R3.75 million, with housing and car allowances amounting to R1.2 million, and an annual bonus of R395 000, taking her yearly package to R5.4 million, according to last year’s annual report. 

If she accepted the retirement offer, Phakeng would have been given study and research leave as a sabbatical. The university agreed to pay a settlement amount at the 2023 cost of employment on the date of retirement. 

The early-retirement benefits include a tax directive for the lump-sum early retirement, which should attract the average tax rate and not the marginal tax rate. In addition, she would receive annual leave of 57.66 days to be paid out at the January 2023 salary rate of almost R1 million.

The council also proposed that Phakeng receive staff tuition benefits for life, a UCT email for life and post-retirement medical aid of R955 per month, provided she remained with the university’s medical aid provider. 

Phakeng, through her lawyer, told the university that the offer of retirement should not be dependent on the probe being stopped. She said she wanted it to continue in public, so she could clear her name. 

Lawyers for Phakeng said she was not amenable to including, as part of the settlement agreement, a provision that disbands the panel for investigation and the withdrawal of all allegations before the panel. 

Some council members told the Mail & Guardian they had not been consulted about making the offer to Phakeng to give her early retirement and to abandon the probe.

“What would the panel think, making themselves available to probe allegations put out in the domain, only to be informed through the media that their services would not be required? Council’s conduct is scandalous,” one said.

By Friday, the UCT council had not responded to a query sent on Thursday about whether the panel members had been informed that their services might no longer be required. 

Ishmael Mnisi, the spokesperson for the Department of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, said the minister, Dr Blade Nzimande, hoped the UCT council would approach the Phakeng matter with the requisite care and application of labour law, as required by the Higher Education Act.

He said the minister would request a report and an update on this matter from the council. 

The Black Academic Caucus at UCT said the panel must be allowed to continue with its work.

“We are shocked and disturbed that council has decided to take this route of forcing the VC into early retirement,” it said in a statement. 

“If this process is aborted, the university will be left none the wiser about the real causes of the issues that played out in public last year.”

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Last year, Professor Sakhele Buhlungu, the vice-chancellor of Fort Hare, who is in the second term of office, asked President Cyril Ramaphosa to sign a proclamation authorising an investigation into corruption claims at Fort Hare. 

The attack on him has been linked to his role in pushing for the investigation. Buhlungu was not in the car at the time of the attack on 6 January, but his protection officer, Mboneli Vesele, who has worked with him since 2018, was shot and killed. 

Buhlungu has come under attack before. In March last year, shots were fired at his residence and at the homes of two other senior officials. Although no one was hurt in these attacks, it required the university to improve security at the staff village in Alice. But Petrus Roets, the university’s fleet and transport manager, was shot dead in May 2022 in a suspected hit.

A former academic, who did not wish to be named, said corruption had engulfed all 26 institutions in various ways because billions were being spent on infrastructure development, with individuals running it being party to malfeasance. 

He pointed out multiple shenanigans at several institutions to corroborate the claims. 

One of the country’s foremost academics and distinguished professor of education at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, Jonathan Jansen, has lifted the lid on the goings-on at universities in a book, Corrupted: A Study of Chronic Dysfunction in South African Universities, which takes a deeper look at dysfunctional institutions in an attempt to unravel the root causes in a sample of South African universities.

The book’s publisher, Wits University Press details these concerns in its synopsis on Amazon.com: “At the heart of the problem lies the vexed issue of resources or, more pertinently, the relationship between resources and power: who gets what, and why? 

“Whatever else it aspires to be — commonly, a place of teaching, learning, research, and public duty — a university in an impoverished community is also a rich concentration of resources around which corrupt staff, students, and those outside of campus all vie for access.

“Taking a political-economic approach, Jansen describes the daily struggle for institutional resources and offers accessible, sensible insights. He argues that the problem won’t be solved through investments in ‘capacity building’ alone because the combination of institutional capacity and institutional integrity contributes to serial instability in universities.” 

The events at the institution are probably linked to the work of the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), which has been underway since the presidential proclamation of 5 August 2022 (Government Gazette 47199) authorising the investigation of allegations of corruption at Fort Hare between 2012 and 2022, said Blade Nzimande, the minister of higher education, science and innovation, said on 11 January, during a visit to the university. 

This was partly a response to forensic work that the university had undertaken, but where it had faced certain limitations as investigators needed to have the statutory powers necessary to undertake specific responsibilities. 

The investigation relates to: procurement irregularities in cleaning and gardening services (between 2012 and 2019); the leasing of student accommodation since 2013; the appointment of a service provider for maintenance and repair of air conditioning systems (2018); and collusion of officials and suppliers, or service providers. 

It also focuses on alleged maladministration in the affairs of the university’s department of public administration in awarding honours degrees, mismanagement of funds, and sourcing public servants to study in various programmes for individual financial gain. 

These allegations are also linked to the university’s suspension of Professor Edwin Ijeoma, an employee, who resigned in February 2021. The disciplinary processes continued following his resignation, and he was found guilty of all charges. 

Nzimande noted that there were reports of how deeply maladministration was entrenched in the institution, which Buhlungu had reportedly been actively rooting out since he assumed office. These endeavours saw several senior managers and staff members suspended, some resigning, and others dismissed. 

The minister said that some of the issues investigated by the SIU were also briefly noted in an Independent Assessor Report (October 2019), an investigation authorised by the minister, in which one of the six key findings was that “there are disturbing signs of a widespread belief that the university is a kind of cash cow which everyone is entitled to milk for personal benefit”.

Which other institutions have been in the spotlight?

Kaizer Kganyago, the head of stakeholder relations and communications at the SIU, said the unit had received complaints about corruption claims at other tertiary institutions. 

On 16 November last year, the parliamentary portfolio committee on higher education, science and education, which plays an oversight role and may request information from a ministry, received updates on problems at several institutions, including the Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT), University of South Africa (Unisa), and Vaal University of Technology (VUT) — all related to governance issues. 

Professor Themba Mosia, academic and former chairperson of the Council on Higher Education, was appointed by the minister as an independent assessor, or investigator, to probe problems at Unisa, a distance learning institution, in September 2022. 

The minister had discussions with the Unisa council on the findings of the ministerial task team report of 2021. Mosia’s appointment came after a conflict between National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union and the university leadership over allegations of mismanagement.

The Mangosuthu University of Technology was placed under administration, and an administrator, who acts in a temporary capacity as manager of the university, Professor Lourens van Staden, was appointed on 28 September last year. This came after an investigation, authorised by the minister, by independent assessor Professor Anthony Staak was not implemented by the MUT Council. 

Corruption claims have also been made at the University of Zululand and Mpumalanga University of Technology.

Committee members discussing events at tertiary institutions around the country in parliament at the end of last year said they were not pleased with poor governance at higher education institutions because essential matters such as the curriculum, the impact of qualifications offered by the sector, and its core business should have been discussed. 

“Instead, the committee is always confronted with addressing corruption allegations, maladministration, poor financial management, governance, and stakeholder relations.”

Action promised

Nzimande said: “Corruption is a betrayal of our democracy and an assault on public institutions that we established to advance the values of our Constitution and the interests of our people.”

Fort Hare is one of the country’s oldest universities. Its alumni include the likes of liberation heroes Oliver Tambo, Nelson Mandela, Govan Mbeki, Robert Sobukwe, and Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi in South Africa, Zimbabwean leaders Robert Mugabe and Herbert Chitepo, and Kenya’s Elius Mathu and Charles Njonjo. 

“Our post-school education and training institutions, and the University of Fort Hare is part of those institutions, must [be] protect[ed] against any form of corruption, maladministration, and capture by private interests,” said Nzimande.

He has committed to forming a national task force that will work with institutions of higher education to improve safety and security. The minister has also encouraged these institutions to have their own structures that deal with safety issues. 

Reaction

In a statement, Universities South Africa chairperson Professor Sibongile Muthwa said that the body was deeply saddened by the events at Fort Hare, which took place on the campus premises. 

She said the reports, which indicate that this might have been an attempt on the life of Buhlungu, are hugely shocking.

Whitfield Green, the chief executive of the Council on Higher Education (CHE), called for decisive action from the highest levels of government and the safety and security structures that must act vigorously “to root out this growing threat to our universities”.

Nozipho January-Bardill, the chairperson of the council of Nelson Mandela University in the Eastern Cape, extended condolences to the Vesele family and the broader University of Fort Hare community. 

“That murder and assassination are taking place in a higher education environment is a shocking reflection of the difficult times we live in as a nation,” she said.

January-Bardill called on authorities to support and protect whistleblowers and those trying to root out fraud and corruption in higher education and our society broadly.

This is an edited version of an article first published by the Africa edition of University World News.

Kruger has asked the council for help in a “desperate attempt to seek an internal resolution to an egregious failure of the university leadership to adhere to university policies”. The matter was on the agenda for a council meeting which was scheduled for Thursday, but has since been postponed to January.

Kruger was charged with producing a UCT publication, The End of Term at UCT, without obtaining authorisation or informing Phakeng about it. Without permission, Kruger allegedly published a tribute under Phakeng’s name.

Phakeng, a mathematics professor, has been rocked by mounting opposition to her leadership at a divided UCT campus, including accusations against her of flouting governance processes.

She told Mail & Guardian that her detractors want her out before her second term starts in July next year.

“Since I began as vice-chancellor, I have dared to challenge several ‘untouchables’ at UCT, investigating racism in their departments or the quality of their work. People are working with some council members to act against me. However, under my watch, UCT is the number one tertiary institution in Africa, according to several global rankings,” she said.

“People loved my leadership style when I stopped [student] protests and brought the university to stability, and now they don’t like it because I am taking on white privilege. My conscience is clear. I have, and will always, put the university first.”

On the Kruger matter, Phakeng said she could not comment on an ongoing disciplinary issue but confirmed that lawyers acting for the communications chief had sought an exit package, which she turned down because the disciplinary process must be completed internally first.

“Kruger and her lawyers know very well what her transgression is, and she should be happy that I have not opened a criminal case against her,” Phakeng added.

When Phakeng took office, Kruger, who worked previously in the mayor’s office in the City of Cape Town, allegedly told Phakeng that she had seen five vice-chancellors “come and go”.

In a 2019 report, advocate Justice Nedzamba investigated reports alleging, among others, nepotism, racial discrimination, bullying and irregularities in the recruitment and selection of staff members in the communication and marketing department (CMD) under Kruger.

“The existence of bullying and racism within the CMD is not a myth. Though subtle, input from interviewees demonstrated that indirect racial discrimination exists. So does a climate of fear, bullying and intimidation,” the report said.

In her letter to the council, Kruger said she had been suspended almost seven months ago by Phakeng over what she believed were vindictive allegations aimed at removing her from a post she has held for 23 years.

Kruger has asked the council to include her complaint in its alleged governance charge against Phakeng and council chair, Babalwa Ngonyama, which came after a complaint from Associate Professor Lis Lange following her retirement in March.

Lange, who signed a non-disclosure agreement and voluntarily agreed to take an R1.6 million pay-out, claimed in a letter before the senate in June that she had been forced out by Phakeng and Ngonyama, prompting what has been described as a governance crisis.

The now-postponed council meeting was meant to discuss feedback from Ngonyama on the health of the vice-chancellor, who was discharged from hospital on 9 December, and the departure of Royston Pillay, the registrar. Also on the agenda was the composition of  an independent panel tasked to look into charges of misconduct against Phakeng. 

Retired judge Sisi Khampepe is no longer available to serve on the panel and efforts to replace her with Bess Nkabinde, a former constitutional court judge, have been rebuffed.

The panel will be chaired by retired president of the supreme court of appeal (SCA) Lex Mpati, and includes retired SCA judge Azhar Cachalia, governance expert Trish Hanekom and Wits University head of transformation Bernadette Johnson. 

They are expected to listen to the matter from 23 January over six weeks. Some council members want the deliberations heard behind closed doors, but Phakeng has said on social media that it should be open to the public and media.

Kruger said the claims against her form part of the governance issues at UCT relating to Phakeng’s conduct and leadership style, which has resulted in an intolerable and fearful working environment.

She lodged a grievance against Phakeng on 7 October regarding a post about Kruger on social media, which she said was untrue and defamatory. Kruger said the UCT’s failure to deal with a serious grievance against Phakeng while targeting her, contravened university policies and constituted a governance breach.

Professor Elelwani Ramugondo, the deputy vice-chancellor for transformation, student affairs and social responsiveness, is the acting vice-chancellor until Phakeng returns to work on 9 January. 

Mail & Guardian have not been able to get a comment from Kruger by the time of writing, despite numerous attempts.

Two weeks ago, the council submitted a report on the crisis at UCT to Blade Nzimande, the minister of education, science, and innovation. — © Higher Education Media Services

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In a letter to the university last Thursday, seen by the Mail & Guardian but not yet made public, Dr Tiri Chinyoka, writing on behalf of black academics and staff, said Nzimande should intervene with an inquiry into what he called racist false claims about dysfunction at UCT.

Nzimande’s office could not be reached for comment at the time of writing.

The university, ranked as the best in Africa by five international bodies, is engulfed in a crisis of governance which has forced vice-chancellor Mamokgethi Phakeng to cut short her sabbatical in Britain and Europe, amid mounting opposition to her leadership.

Chinyoka’s letter was released after it emerged that the committee set up by the UCT  council to draw up a list of names for an independent panel to look into charges of misconduct against Phakeng wanted deputy council chairperson Pheladi Gwangwa removed from the process. 

The council will now meet next month to try to find a way forward, the Mail & Guardian has learnt. 

On Friday, nine of the 28 council members asked registrar Royston Pillay to arrange an urgent special council meeting to discuss a motion of no-confidence in Gwangwa. The black academics and staff say they are driving a racist agenda, a charge the council members have rejected.

The UCT Academics Union had claimed earlier in the week that Gwangwa was conflicted because of her role on the university’s human resources committee. But a high-ranking source said the claim was baseless as she was not involved in discussions around the departure of former deputy vice-chancellor Lis Lange. 

According to sources, during a marathon council meeting on 15 October, the divided council members unsuccessfully pushed for Gwangwa’s recusal on the grounds that she, in the words of some council members, was conflicted because of an article she had written on the matter on the UCT website. 

In his letter to the university, Chinyoka rejected suggestions from the UCT Senate and the Academics Union of a management crisis at the institution.

“It is therefore not surprising that the UCT academic structures overwhelmingly dominated by white persons, namely the senate, the sub committees of the senate, the Academics Union etc., are at the front-and-centre of the current ‘crisis’,” he said.

“The commitment to retain the status quo and preserve white privilege is glaring. We are therefore called upon to reject the systematic and underhand attempts by the predominantly white structures to unseat black leadership.”

Chinyoka said the problems at UCT were structural and systemic and could be traced back to colonialism and apartheid.

Last Tuesday, the former dean of the Centre for Higher Education Development Professor Alan Cliff told a retirees dinner that claims regarding racism at UCT must be taken seriously, in addition to what he called the “white supremacist” thinking still present at the university. Cliff said there should be a thorough and independent investigation of the crisis.

“As a white male, I am uncomfortably aware of my historical position of privilege and that I now need to call myself to greater accountability in contributing to transformation. Suppose we can contribute to redressing and transforming the next generations of academics. In that case, that may well be one of the most important, ongoing contributions we can make as retirees,” he said.  

Last Wednesday, the UCT Senate, which is 60% white academics, met to endorse the call for a probe into Phakeng and council chair Babalwa Ngonyama made during the previous full council meeting on 15 October.

According to a Senate member, they were concerned about leaks from the university, in particular, a new report by an independent law firm related to a probe into allegations of bullying against Phakeng launched last year after a complaint by Professor Jeremy Seekings. Ramushu Mashile Twala attorneys in Sandton investigated and found no evidence of misconduct against Phakeng in respect of this complaint. — © Higher Education Media Services

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No information was available about the parents of the third girl.

The school has confirmed it is investigating how a “bright” young learner, Mary*, who joined Roedean Junior School only six weeks ago, has been bullied, manipulated, tormented and taunted by the three girls. 

Mary shocked her parents by talking about suicide, which led to them asking the school to urgently act against the bullies because they were concerned about the well-being of their child. This concern was intensified after they discovered a disturbing video message on Mary’s cellphone addressed to one of the alleged bullies, expressing how she cries in secret in the toilets every day because of how she is being treated. 

This sparked concern that the abuse had not been an isolated incident. 

In another incident, Mary was told by a learner that children in her class had made clay figures in art class of her “as a person they hate most”.

Worried about her emotional state, Mary’s parents pleaded with the alleged bully’s parents and approached the school for intervention, only for their child to be physically abused the following day at school. The parents immediately sought a meeting with the school’s head. 

Mary was subjected to bullying, including physical assault, for four out of five days last week alone, her parents said. The only day she was not bullied was when she didn’t go to school. This prompted an independent school psychologist to write a letter to her parents advising them that, in her professional opinion, the child was not safe and the school was not doing enough to protect her from the bullies.

Mary’s father did not want to divulge further details because he was concerned about his daughter’s well-being. 

Staff members said that after the celebrity parents received complaints about their daughter’s alleged misconduct as part of the gang of three, they, in turn, bullied the school’s principal.

Earlier this year, in another incident allegedly involving the same trio, a parent wrote to the school saying his daughter *Linda had been traumatised and assaulted on the playground by the three girls. 

The father said Linda had been physically and verbally abused on at least three occasions from 25 January to 23 March, including online posts with a derogatory description of the victim. He said the school did not act against the bullies, but said that the government official’s daughter had apologised.

The school confirmed that the government official and his wife have apologised for their daughter’s behaviour regarding Linda. But they had not been informed by the school of the incident involving Mary. 

The head of the junior school at Roedean, Gillian Boltman, said the school had brought in  conflict and mediation specialists from the Bryanston company, BizArmour, which has experience in the education field, to investigate the circumstances around the incident involving Mary.

“We will then be in a position to take decisive action with all the factual evidence at hand,” said Boltman, adding that Roedean has a zero-tolerance policy on bullying, which is in its code of conduct “and evident in our ethos”.

“Regrettably, of course, there is bullying in schools. At Roedean, we operate within a community of approximately 800 children who spend at least six hours a day together. Incidents of bullying will inevitably occur,” she said.

Boltman said they had strengthened the school’s anti-bullying policy, admitting there have been weaknesses, but “any learner who attends Roedean today can be assured that there will be decisive action [against bullying]”.  

Despite several assurances from the school, none of the incidents besides that of Mary have been investigated, and the bullies continued their reign of terror, which according to correspondence from other parents, has been going on since the beginning of the year and had been reported to the school. 

When contacted by the Mail & Guardian for comment, the celebrity wife said the matter was “not for the media or public consumption”. 

After becoming “fed up” with the school’s failure to act against the bullying, Linda’s parents took their child out of the school.

Bullying claims against the celebrity wife’s daughter and her two friends have been made by several parents. 

Another family whose child was subject to bullying has moved to another province. A fourth child who had been bullied has remained at the school.

The parent of a fifth child who had been bullied said they sought relief from the school board after failing to get help from Boltman.

A teacher at the school, speaking on condition of anonymity, said several children have left the school in the past year as a result of bullying and the school’s failure to act decisively against the alleged culprits. 

Ronél de Jager, the chief executive of BizArmour, confirmed in a letter that the firm had been instructed to investigate the bullying against Mary. But Mary’s father said Boltman had told them that a disciplinary hearing that was to have taken place last Monday was postponed until Wednesday. At the time of writing, no hearing has taken place and Mary  has not been at school.

After inquiries by the M&G, the school has since informed all junior school parents that the bullying against Mary was being investigated. The inquiry had been kept under wraps.

Mary’s father said: “We have had to remove the child from school until the investigation is complete; it is widely accepted in every institution that if there are allegations of wrongdoing, the accused are removed pending an investigation, but at Roedean, the affected are punished.”

In a letter to the school, Linda’s father expressed dissatisfaction and concern about how the management and leadership of the school handled reported incidents of physical, emotional, verbal and social bullying.

He said Linda still questions why the school had not acted against the girls involved in the attack on her. 

“The fact that yet another girl, new to the school, has had to suffer physical and emotional bullying at the hands of the same group of girls is shocking and reprehensible,” Linda’s father said.

According to the anti-bullying initiative, Stop Bullying, as many as 57% of learners in high schools have been bullied, but they did not specify whether this was at private and public schools. It said a recent study showed that South Africa is rated second in the world for cyberbullying. 

Last month a 14-year-old grade eight pupil died after jumping off a building at St Teresa’s School in Johannesburg. The girl who jumped with her was severely injured. It is not yet known why the girls jumped and the police are investigating the incident.

Elijah Mhlanga, spokesperson for the department of basic education, said the department generally doesn’t get involved in private school governance and condemns bullying in all forms, irrespective of where it takes place.

“Schools are supposed to be no-violence zones, and learners must stop the bullying as it affects their learning as we have seen in recent months; it can also lead to unnecessary loss of life,” he said. 

The Independent Schools Association of South Africa was asked to comment on the steps it had taken to stamp out bullying at private schools but did not respond by the time of publication. On its website, the association says bullying is not tolerated in public and private schools and is a breach of learners’ constitutional rights. Bullying also contravenes the association’s requirement for membership. — © Higher Education Media Services

* Pseudonyms have been used to protect the identities of the children.

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Lange claims she was forced out while Phakeng and Ngonyama claim she left for “personal reasons”.

Lange left two months after a Constitutional Court challenge of her appointment was dropped. There were allegations that she misrepresented her professional status when applying for the deputy vice-chancellor post.

Two courts dismissed these allegations in 2020 and found that the appointment was rational and reasonable.

The case was pursued all the way to the constitutional court last year by the deputy vice-chancellor of transformation, Elelwani Ramugondo, who had been in contention for the role at the time and believed that she had a reasonable chance of success.

In their submission, Ramugondo and Black Academic Caucus said Ramugondo did not want Lange’s job, but wanted to ensure that UCT understood it was critical for a just administrative process when making such appointments. The university was the first respondent. Former vice-chancellor Max Price, as executive head and his key role in the selection process, was the second respondent, and Lange was the third respondent.

After disappointment in the high court, the matter went to the supreme court of appeal but the supreme court of appeal judge president declared there was no prospect of success. The UCT registrar, Royston Pillay, said in court papers that the university stood by Lange because she had performed similar duties at University of the Free State. 

In 2021, Ramugondo and the Black Academic Caucus applied to the constitutional court for leave to appeal on grounds of institutional racism and unfair procedures. 

However an amicable solution was reached.

Ramugondo decided with the caucus to drop the case in March 2022, informing the court accordingly, after agreeing in November 2021 to join the UCT executive team that included Lange. After being on sabbatical, Ramugondo assumed her post with the executive on 1 July. 

But the Black Academic Caucus clarified that the withdrawal for leave to appeal was not founded on the changing legal principle of administrative justice. “It was an olive branch seeking to resolve the matter amicably by withdrawing from the case to ensure harmony,” said a caucus member.

Lange’s departure in May was not the end of the saga. Council members have since accused Phakeng and Ngonyama of governance irregularities after conflicting reports of her exit emerged. 

The catalyst for the drama was a senate meeting on 30 September, where acting chairperson Sue Harrison allowed senate member Tom Moultrie to read Lange’s letter in breach of protocol. Ngonyama was absent and not asked to explain herself, and Phakeng was abroad on sabbatical.

The council met last Saturday to discuss the terms of the reference for the inquiry into Phakeng and Ngonyama. On Saturday at 9am, proceedings began virtually with discussions led by Ngonyama until she and Phakeng recused themselves at 12.30pm. 

Deliberations followed with deputy chairperson Pheladi Gwangwa also being asked to recuse herself because, in the words of some council members, she was conflicted by an article she had written on the matter on the UCT website. 

She responded: “I shall not be removed; what you did to the chairperson will not be repeated here.” 

Deliberations turned to whether the three senate members, Danwood Chirwa, Ntobeko Ntusi and Jacques Rousseau, should recuse themselves because they had already “convicted” Ngonyama in her absence at the 30 September meeting. 

Last Saturday’s council meeting also debated the actions of 14 council members who had stated the meeting on 6 October was “irregular” and “flawed”. 

A council member, who did not want to be named, said it was ironic that the 14 had turned a blind eye to the governance breach by the senate.

Although she has no voting rights, Harrison’s presence was also labelled a conflict of interest because she had presided over the senate meeting in which Ngonyama was repeatedly branded a liar. 

Lange’s narrative was accepted at the senate and council meetings. 

By about 7pm, it was agreed that a sub-committee would compile names of retired judges and independent panel members to head the inquiry, which will look into reasons for the departure of executives under Phakeng. It has emerged that 11 have left since 2018, with seven of them retirements. Phakeng is in the United States at the University of Miami, where she has been invited to deliver two academic lectures. Lange was asked to comment but had not done so at the time of publication. — © Higher Education Media Services

This article has been updated on 8 March 2023, with a new headline and several paragraphs of the original article deleted.

The original article, headlined “New twist in UCT saga as enquiry into vice-chancellor takes shape”, also referred to disclosures made in an application to the constitutional court in 2021 by the deputy vice-chancellor of transformation, Elelwani Ramugondo regarding Prof Lis Lange’s academic credentials. However, the article failed to make it clear that the matter had already been dismissed by the Cape Town High Court in February 2020, and that applications for leave to appeal had been refused by the High Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal. The application for leave to appeal to the Constitutional had been withdrawn in March 2022. There was thus no “new twist”.

The courts have ruled that Lange’s appointment was reasonable and this matter was no longer in dispute.

Mail & Guardian retracts the original headline and has deleted the paragraphs referencing Lange’s appointment as unreasonable. We apologise to Lange for any harm caused.

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Phakeng returned to Cape Town this week, cutting short her sabbatical in Britain and Europe, amid a growing crisis of governance, racism allegations and mounting opposition to her leadership at a divided UCT campus. 

The mathematics professor has walked into a cauldron, with tension brewing openly as her opponents threaten legal action and questions float about what it would cost to depose her. 

Phakeng has been accused of flouting the governance process, along with council chair Babalwa Ngonyama. This particularly revolves around the May departure of associate Lis Lange, who was the deputy vice-chancellor of teaching and learning. 

The circumstances surrounding Lange’s exit were heavily contested across racial lines before the university senate and council and brought back into the spotlight the bullying claims made in a report by former ombud Zetu Makamandela-Mguqulwa in 2019. 

On 31 March, Phakeng was given a second five-year term, rewarded for steering the university through challenging times, including the Covid-19 pandemic and launching the innovative online school and UCT Digital Bootcamp. 

Among the top-earning vice-chancellors in the country Phakeng, who succeeded Max Price in July 2018, receives a salary of R3.75-million, with housing and car allowances amounting to R1.2-million, and a R395 000 bonus, taking her yearly package to R5.4-million, according to last year’s annual report. 

In terms of labour law, Phakeng, would have a strong case for a payout equal to the duration of her contract, should her detractors, including former acting second-in-command, deputy vice-chancellor: research and internationalisation, Sue Harrison, succeed in ousting her.

‘No plans to resign’

Phakeng said this week: “I have no plans to resign.”

Harrison was accused of “leading a coup” and “stabbing her boss in the back” during the 30 September senate meeting where procedural governance was flouted. Harrison allegedly broke protocol by allowing the details concerning the departure of Lange, which ought to have been tabled seven days before, to be presented to the senate.

“With the doubling of people against the vice-chancellor at council and the latest salvo from the academic union, there are clear indicators that Phakeng is fighting for survival,” said a former UCT academic who declined to be named.

Although he does not interfere directly in tertiary matters, unless they reach a crisis point, Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister Blade Nzimande would not endorse such a decision, an education department official said. The minister has asked the council for a report on the goings-on.

Phakeng was reappointed after extensive consultation by the council with the students’ representative council, staff bodies, organised labour, deans and the executive directors. Ironically, a vital requirement of the UCT statute and the policy for re-appointing a vice-chancellor is receiving the backing of the 400-member senate. Phakeng got 78% of the vote but part of the senate has turned against her.

As the race-tinged crisis at UCT brewed, black academics, speaking to the Mail & Guardian on condition of anonymity, said they were being marginalised and were constantly under siege from their white counterparts. They said this had manifested itself in damning statistics over the past two years showing black African academics and staff were more likely to face disciplinary action than their white colleagues. 

‘Black staff persecuted’

Some critics have accused Phakeng of playing the race card to mask her failings but statistics since the beginning of the year show out of the 79 disciplinary matters involving UCT staff members who have come before human resources, 41 have involved black African staff, while only two were white.

Last year, out of the 67 disciplinary matters, 31 involved black Africans while five involved white people. The remainder comprised coloured and Indian or foreign staff members. 

“There are different consequences for black Africans and whites on campus,” commented a long-serving UCT academic who did not wish to be named, saying they had seen how people had been ostracised because of race.

Another academic told the story of an African academic who, despite being acquitted of sexual harassment accusations, was still allegedly hounded out of the institution. A white professor charged with child pornography faced no repercussions or investigation after he claimed that his phone had been hacked. 

“Consequences at UCT are not meant to be for white people. Consequences are meant to be for black people. This is the inequality reality that we face at UCT,” said another academic. 

A member of the Black Academic Caucus, Sabelo Radebe, said it was involved in meetings over the crisis. 

“We have a historical background of the issues within untransformed governance structures, especially in the senate and academic union. These structures breed racialised attitudes and undermine black leadership,” Radebe said.

Crunch meeting

The 28-member UCT council was preparing for a meeting on Friday to discuss the way forward.

“Phakeng and Ngonyama are in hot water because the old guard doesn’t want to see old people (like Lange) make way for young black talent. But, amazingly, some new senior white appointments have accepted jobs with the proviso that they mentor and groom their successor; this is refreshingly different and is happening,” said an academic. 

A 2021 transformation report, which has not yet been released but was approved by the council in June, says racism is rife at UCT. The report paints a gloomy picture of division on campus, saying there are no mechanisms for meaningful recourse. 

But despite its ongoing troubles, UCT confounded critics by retaining its Times Higher Education ranking as the best university in Africa. In all five major international university rankings, UCT is rated the best in Africa. When Phakeng became vice-chancellor on 1 July 2018, it led the way in Africa in only one ranking. 

Although the departure of Lange in May sparked the current tensions, matters have been on the boil for a while as Phakeng drove a more robust transformation agenda which led to widespread unhappiness on campus. This followed criticism by black academics that she had been slow to transform UCT.

The Black Academic Caucus says the widely reported controversy arising from the 30 September senate meeting and the subsequent fallout between the senate and council highlights the struggle to transform senior governance structures at UCT. 

The caucus noted there was a difference between Lange’s stated reasons for leaving UCT and what had been communicated to the senate by Phakeng and Ngonyama, raising questions about accountability. 

It said it favoured an investigation into issues affecting the university’s governance and expressed its concern about what it called the toxic environment for black leaders in higher academic institutions. 

The caucus also said it was worried about the composition of the university’s senate, which was dominated by white men.

Besides highlighting the tension at the top level, the transformation report says some staff members and students do not see themselves represented in the structures and cultures of the university. 

Deputy vice-chancellor for transformation Elelwani Ramugondo said in a leaked letter to the council she was shocked to find how “racialised white people continue to have their voices amplified while black people, especially Africans, have their voices diminished at UCT”.

In a statement, Ngonyama said the past few weeks had been challenging for the university but called for calm. 

The M&G approached Lange and Harrison for comment, but they had not responded by the time of writing. — © Higher Education Media Services

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Despite a professed commitment to gender equality, African men are in the driving seat when vice-chancellors are appointed in South Africa. 

Far from women being at the forefront, it is the men who are calling the shots when it comes to gender politics in South Africa — and on the continent. Their influence extends across the higher education landscape. To be blunt, there is a bias towards African men running institutions of higher learning. 

The appointment of Professor Letlhokwa Mpedi, vice-chancellor designate of the University of Johannesburg (UJ), continues a pattern where women candidates have failed to make it beyond the short-list at most of South Africa’s top universities. 

It’s not that there are no capable women around. Internationally respected researcher Zodwa Dlamini, director of the Pan African Cancer Research Institute at the University of Pretoria, was said to have strong support on and off the UJ campus. But she didn’t make it. 

Executive dean in the faculty of science at UJ, Professor Debra Meyer, boasted the highest Scopus h-index of the four shortlisted candidates, meaning her research was most cited by her rivals. Before a selection was made, there were already rumours she was not going to get the position. 

It was deemed to be a tussle between Mpedi and strongly favoured Professor Saurabh Sinha, the deputy vice-chancellor: research and internationalisation, who apparently received the highest number of senate votes. Still, he could not topple Mpedi, despite claims he was the personal choice of the outgoing head Professor Tshilidzi Marwala — which Marwala denied. 

However, when legal expert Mpedi takes over from Marwala, he will have an executive comprising seven women, with the next layer below made up of five women deans. That might suggest several women candidates will be ready to replace him when it is his turn to go. 

But just as at UJ, when the vice-chancellor role became vacant at the universities of the Witwatersrand, Pretoria and KwaZulu-Natal, women made the final cut but it was men who triumphed. Professors Zeblon Vilakazi, Tawana Kupe and Nana Poku, got the nod, respectively.

At UKZN in 2019, Poku, a health economist, faced competition from Professor Nora de Leeuw, pro-vice-chancellor of Cardiff University in Wales. But Poku replaced Dr Albert van Jaarsveld, who left prematurely to take up a post in Austria. 

Senior deputy vice-chancellor: academic, Professor Ruksana Osman was described as a “makeweight” on the shortlist at Wits when she lost out to Vilakazi in January last year. 

UJ’s Sinha was also on the shortlist at Wits. But the world-renowned scientist Vilakazi was considered the natural successor to Professor Adam Habib. Osman, however, is not the only woman on his executive. Four out of seven on the Wits management committee are women. 

Axed Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) vice-chancellor Professor Nthabiseng Ogude was among the six candidates running for the UP role, which went to respected Zimbabwean-born media expert Kupe in November 2018, replacing Professor Cheryl de la Rey, who left to become head of the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. 

Ogude had no chance after her horror show at TUT, where she was castigated for her poor handling of student protests over fees. Was she shortlisted to make up the numbers and tick the gender box?

In recent times, men have ruled the roost elsewhere. North-West University made headlines earlier this year when former council chairperson Dr Bismark Tyobeka, a nuclear power expert, controversially resigned and applied for the top job. This was not for the first time a chair of council had contrived to become vice-chancellor — the most notable being pharmacist Professor Ihron Rensburg at UJ.

In February, Dr Ndanduleni Nthambeleni became vice-chancellor of the University of Venda (Univen), where there’s only one woman, Professor Nosisi Feza, the deputy vice-chancellor: research and postgraduate studies, in the senior executive team of six. 

Also in February, religion and politics scholar Professor Tinyiko Maluleke became vice-chancellor at TUT. Former Univen head Professor Peter Mbati got the top job at Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University in 2020. Mbati was also on the shortlist at UKZN. 

Former North-West University head Professor Ntate Dan Kgwadi was appointed vice-chancellor of the Vaal University of Technology earlier this year.

There seemed to be no concerns about gender when the contracts of Professor Sizwe Mabizela at Rhodes University and Professor Wim de Villiers at Stellenbosch University were extended. 

There are six women vice-chancellors in South Africa. Among the prestigious institutions at the top of research rankings in Africa, only the University of Cape Town can boast a woman head in Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng, a recent Africa Education Medal recipient.

She has faced numerous challenges but has kept UCT in the spotlight academically — and she’s never far from the trolls on social media due to her tendency to be outspoken. 

Elsewhere, professors Thoko Mayekiso at the University of Mpumalanga, Sibongile Muthwa at Nelson Mandela University, Rushiella Songca at Walter Sisulu University, Puleng LenkaBula at Unisa, and Xoliswa Mtose of the University of Zululand are leading their institutions with varying degrees of success. 

Given the figurehead role of chancellor at 17 out of 26 institutions in South Africa is held by a woman, one would expect a louder chorus of support for women in the job or more pressure on universities to make gender more than lip service. 

What hope is there when the minister of women Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, has been an ineffective gender champion since her appointment in 2019? When it comes to gender-based violence, President Cyril Ramaphosa, emerges to express concern, providing bland assurance that the inefficient police service will enforce the plethora of new laws to end the scourge. 

What hope for women in higher education? On Thursday, 29 September, former UN Women executive director Dr Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka was inaugurated as chancellor of UJ. Given her commitment to gender issues, she should have something to say about succession planning at the university the next time the role is vacant. 

On a broader level, however, questions related to the composition of selection committees and interview panels are crucial to learning how these processes unfold because deep agendas are at play without real consideration for gender imperatives. 

Strong candidates are often omitted when shortlists are drawn up — generally a closed, internal process with little or no external oversight or transparency. Why? We are not privy to the names of stronger candidates who might have been bumped off the list to make way for preferred candidates. 

The pattern of men ruling the roost is not unique to South Africa. In Kenya, only six out of 29 public universities are led by women. In Nigeria, which has 200 public and private universities, only six have women in charge. According to the Forum for Women Vice-Chancellors in Africa, out of 1 500 universities on the continent, just 40 are led by women.

Why aren’t the mothers, sisters and daughters of Africa allowed to lead? It has been said on numerous occasions that Africa has a patriarchal society. Institutions of higher learning are no exception to this pattern. But how does this narrative change? 

Former president of Mauritius, and renowned scientist, Ameenah Gurib-Fakim blames misogynistic behaviour for the absence of women in leadership positions. She argues that women are not meant to challenge the status quo, and the appointment of a woman is made through many lenses besides gender — class, ethnicity, tribe, political affinity. 

Higher education minister Dr Blade Nzimande seems to pay lip service to gender parity. Mary Metcalfe was his first director general but left when he allegedly attempted to use department funds for a Cuban jaunt. He’s never had a woman director general since. Under his watch, black African men have thrived in the education sector. I have not heard him complain. 

Nzimande will have you believe that the gender gap is closing. On 14 September, he revealed more women graduate with doctorates than men. The minister provides uplifting statistics that show women are outnumbering men when receiving scholarships. 

More women are being engaged in the tertiary space too. For years, there have been only four women vice-chancellors. That number has gone up by just a couple. There are more women deputy vice-chancellors. 

Several universities are running vice-chancellor’s academic development programmes to complement the department’s Future Professors Programme. 

One must give credit where it is due. Indeed, progress is being made. But it counts for nought when almost three decades after apartheid, we don’t trust women enough to appoint them to lead most of our institutions of higher learning. Is that because African men are the chosen ones? — © Higher Education Media Services

Edwin Naidu is a former editor of The Teacher, an M&G publication, and is now with Higher Education Media Services.

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Mail & Guardian.

But before the trek to school, Phakeng and children in her village would collect water, walking roughly the same distance. School-ready children starting grade one (then known as sub A) had water duties twice a day.

“After fetching water early in the morning, you got ready for school; at that time, watches were rare. So, we used the sun to measure the time — the sun and my grandmother. My cousin and I were like siblings, we’d walk to school together,” she recalls.

That was 50 years ago at Ikageleng Primary in Marapyane village in Mpumalanga, says Phakeng, who was named the inaugural winner of the Africa Education Medal two weeks ago. 

The school uniform was a black sleeveless dress and a white shirt. It was the only primary school in the village. “I think it only had four classrooms. Next to the school was a church. And there were big trees; under one particular tree where our class gathered, there was a blackboard leaning on a trunk.

“We’d have our lessons under the tree. But when it rained, we’d go into the church with the grade two’s because we couldn’t be under the tree. There wouldn’t be much teaching when it rained. We would cuddle up, and sometimes the teachers would complain about the noise-making because we would be excited, and there were too many of us.”

Phakeng says she never went to preschool but was eager to go to school. “I can recall that we couldn’t wait to go to school. My grandmother said if we can touch your left ear with your right hand over your head, you are ready to go to school.”

Walking home from school was more fun, says Phakeng, because the walk there was severe and rushed, often because the group didn’t know whether they would be late.

“But the walk back was enjoyable because it was leisurely, and we would pause along the way. It was such a long way, so we’d stop to eat wild fruit along the way. It was a very sandy area, we would watch the marks on the sand. Sometimes we would see a snake pass on the street.

“We would lie on the sand, sometimes look up to the sky, and once in a while, there would be an aeroplane. There were all sorts of superstitions about what you see on the ground and in the sky. Sometimes, we would see bats but we were not supposed to cross the bat’s line. It was exciting,” she says.

Reminiscing on a funny moment, Phakeng says there were pit latrines along the route for pedestrians. “Many of us as children struggled with worms. And, of course, we had no idea what worms were. One day a child went into the pit latrine crying because the worms came out of his bottom.  The child was crying. We all began crying. We thought snakes were coming out of the child’s bum. We thought this was witchcraft. We ran, calling on adults to help.” 

Phakeng describes herself as a survivor, saying that five decades later, one seldom hears about children who have studied under trees and become successful.

“It’s always a story of failure or anticipation that the child will not get anywhere. So this is not to say we should leave children going to school under a tree so they can succeed, but it’s to say that they can be successful.

“I have always described myself as a survivor of the system. Those conditions were not meant to produce success, so I survived that system. So many children I started with back in 1972 have fallen off the track and didn’t get to where I did.”

Phakeng says they cannot be blamed for not rising above their circumstances. “We were supposed to fail.”

Phakeng went to Tsela-tshweu higher primary, Tswelelang higher primary, Thuto-Thebe middle school, Odi high school and Hebron College of Education. 

She completed her matric with university exemption in 1983 in the village of Hebron at the school now known as Manotshe Moduane Secondary. 

In 1983, the world population was 4.72 billion. Michael Jackson ruled the music charts with Beat It and Billie Jean. Civil war broke out in Zimbabwe. New York experienced an earthquake. The final episode of M*A*S*H aired and was watched by 125 million viewers. Cabbage patch dolls went on sale. The video game Mario Bros made its debut, spawning the Super Mario Bros game.

Phakeng says she went to stay with her grandmother and attended Ikageleng Primary because her mother, Wendy Mmutlana, went back to school to complete grade seven. Her father, Frank Mmutlana, was one of the first black radio announcers on Radio Setswana, now MotswedingFM, at the SABC. 

“In 12 years of primary education, I went to seven schools. I never spent more than two years in one school. Part of it was because of the family situation, the poverty, and my mother’s school. 

“Part of it was that as a result of the changes in the country’s politics, like when the homeland of Bophuthatswana introduced middle schools. When my mother completed grade 10, she went to college and did a primary teacher’s course. And then she came to teach in Tswelelang Primary School, and she took us to be students at the school where she was teaching. We all went there. So I did one year at my mother’s school until the end of grade seven and then had to go to another school for grade eight.

She completed her matric at boarding school, her father paying the fees with a R500 loan from the broadcaster. 

“When I asked them why they sent me to boarding school, my mother said we thought we had to take you away from the boys in the township,” says Phakeng, bursting into laughter.

She says the discipline at boarding school was like being in the army; there were different rules for boys and girls. “It was my first experience of being with other students my age who did not come from my township. They either came from a different township or another village. It was also the first time I lived away from the family and had to do my washing, ironing and so on.”

Phakeng, on sabbatical until February 2023, says the school was influential in shaping her and inspiring her to use education to transcend her circumstances.

Among the numerous congratulatory messages for the inspiring learner from under a tree in Marapyane village was from global television icon and talk-show host Oprah Winfrey.“That was nice,” says Phakeng, about to start her second term as vice-chancellor at UCT in 2023. – Higher Education Media Services ©