The Chairperson of the University of Cape Town’s council, Babalwa Ngonyama, has resigned immediately following a recommendation from a high-powered panel established to investigate governance at UCT.
The panel’s report states that her continued presence as COC poses a severe risk to the University and that her threatened attempt to impede the panel's work through an ill-conceived legal stratagem is further proof that she cannot be trusted to fulfil her fiduciary duty to the university.
Ngonyama said she had taken the decision to step down after “thoughtful consideration and deep and thorough reflection” and taking into consideration the current circumstances on her wellness and health. At the heart of the probe was whether the university’s then vice-chancellor (VC), Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng, and Ngonyama misled the university’s executive and Senate about the reasons for the departure of the deputy vice-chancellor (DVC) for teaching and learning, Associate Professor Lis Lange. The Panel said while Phakeng had twice given evidence before it, Ngonyama had repeatedly refused to cooperate.
Its findings, in the interim, Ngonyama had no authority to approach Lange in connection with her second term as DVC and falsely informed her that Council would not support her wish to be appointed for the second term.
At a meeting of REMCOM, Ngonyama engineered the former VC not to sign the settlement agreement so that Ngonyama could withhold from Senate the fact that DVC Lange had been forced to terminate her employment as DVC prematurely. In her written response to the Senate, Ngonyama falsely claimed that the reasons for her departure were “personal and confidential”.
On 6 October 2022, Ngonyama did not recuse herself from a Council meeting at which her conduct regarding Lange’s premature termination and second term was discussed. She reported to Pheladi Gwangwa and Council that “at a meeting between [her] and Lange on 3 January 2022... Lange became abusive and insisted on being appointed VC”. The Panel rejected this claim as a “lie”, and Gwangwa then caused this falsehood to be published to the university community, thereby defaming and breaching the confidentiality of the settlement agreement.
This article is originally published by groundup.org.za
