- UCT council members have voted in favour of a probe into the conduct of UCT’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng.
- The university’s council will appoint a retired judge and a panel of four to complete the task by 31 December.
- This comes after the university’s council chair, Babalwa Ngonyama, yielded this week after intense pressure from university stakeholders concerned about an apparent governance crisis at UCT.
A retired judge and independent panel of four experts will decide whether University of Cape Town (UCT) vice-chancellor, Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng, is guilty of misconduct.
In a significant about-turn from a week ago, a majority of council members voted for Phakeng and UCT council chair, Babalwa Ngonyama, to be investigated by a retired judge and a panel of four.
This comes after Ngonyama yielded this week after intense pressure from university stakeholders concerned about an apparent governance crisis at the university.
Council will now appoint a retired judge and the rest of the panel, who have to report back by 31 December. At the heart of their probe is whether Phakeng and Ngonyama misled the university’s executive and senate about the reasons for the departure of deputy vice-chancellor for Learning, Professor Lis Lange.
After a marathon session of infighting and stalling, council decided late on Saturday evening to adopt the recommendation for an independent investigation to be implemented to probe serious allegations made against Phakeng and Ngonyama.
News24 understands two motions were put forward; one for an independent probe, and the other for a sub-committee to be established to investigate an internal investigation. The second motion was defeated.
Seventeen members voted for the independent external probe. Seven others voted for something similar to an internal probe proposed by the council’s chair.
The meeting got off to a heated start when the university's vice-chancellor and its chair both recused themselves from the section where the probe for an independent investigation was to be reconsidered.
But the deputy chairperson, Pheladi Gwangwa - whom members did not want to preside over the meeting - outright refused.
Insiders told News24 they spent four and a half hours discussing whether Gwangwa should recuse herself from chairing the meeting, due to a conflict of interest. Ultimately she refused to allow the matter to go to a vote.
At one stage Gwangwa unilaterally tried to shut down the meeting - but the registrar informed her that it would be illegal. Council then unofficially rescinded the motion that was tabled at the 6 October meeting – the decision to appoint a sub-committee to investigate the alleged misconduct.