UCT Chancellor engaging with leadership over university’s governance challenges 

The University of Cape Town (UCT) Chancellor Precious Moloi-Motsepe says she is engaging with leadership as well as internal and external stakeholders regarding governance challenges at the university.

This follows Council Chairperson Babalwa Ngonyama’s call for an independent investigation into allegations of misconduct against her.

The allegations center around the departure of the former deputy vice-chancellor for Learning and Teaching, Associate Professor Lis Lange.

Members of the UCT Council allege that Ngonyama provided false reasons for Lange’s departure to the Senate.

Moloi-Motsepe says the university is committed to global best practice relating to governance.

Reputation

In a statement on Saturday, Ngonyama says the past two weeks have been challenging for UCT and there is a potential for significant damage to the university’s reputation, stability and academic credibility.

She says the university remains sacrosanct in the country, continent and the world as it plays a critical role in the efforts to address the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality, with education being the most impactful lever in making a huge dent on the challenges.

Ngonyama adds that the Deputy Chair of Council communicated the decision to constitute an internal sub-committee to look into the governance and procedural matters relating to the Senate meeting held in September and the contested issues relating to Lange’s departure.

“Council debated two possible alternative proposals, an internal or external investigation. After much deliberation, Council determined that all internal processes should be exhausted prior to considering an external process. Council also felt that internal processes have the potential to foster reconciliation and avoid polarisation. In addition, one potential outcome of an internal investigation could also be a recommendation to undertake an external investigation. However, an internal investigation process should have credibility and stakeholder buy-in.”

VIDEO: Interview with UCT Council Chairperson Babalwa Ngonyama: