Report back on the facilitated workshop of the IRTC Steering Committee

The Chair of the IRTC Steering Committee has submitted a letter on the committee's facilitated workshop of 20 May 2017.

Dear members of the UCT community

The Institutional Reconciliation and Transformation (IRTC) Steering Committee meeting held on 18 April 2017 was unable, after a lengthy debate, to reach agreement on the provisional Terms of Reference and criteria for selecting commissioners. The Committee therefore decided to have a facilitated workshop to try to reach agreement. The workshop, facilitated by Nomfundo Walaza, was held on 20 May 2017 at Hlanganani Junction, UCT Libraries from 09h00-16h00. Ms Walaza was well-placed to play the facilitator role as she facilitated the process of formulating the Shackville TRC/Executive Agreement in late 2016.

By the end of the Steering Committee workshop of 20 May participants had reached agreement on both the provisional Terms of Reference and selection criteria. (The Terms of Reference are provisional because the Commissioners, once appointed, may refine them further.) Participants also agreed that the submission from alumni on the Terms of Reference should accompany the Terms of Reference when they are disseminated. Read the relevant documents...

We are therefore now able to put out a call for nominations for IRTC Commissioners. All members of the UCT community will be able to submit proposals for Commissioners, but must do so through the two representatives of their constituency. (The call for nominations and the process for nominations will follow.) The representatives for each constituency will select five nominees which they will send through to the secretariat. The secretariat will compile the nominations from all constituencies for further consideration by the Steering Committee. The aim is to have five Commissioners agreed on by all constituencies.

We are pleased with the commitment constituencies have shown toward moving this process forward.

Mr Sipho M Pityana
Chair of the IRTC steering committee (and Chair of UCT Council)