Council’s decisions on recent developments at UCT

15 October 2022 | Pheladi Gwangwa

Dear members of the UCT community

The University of Cape Town (UCT) Council met for its third regular meeting of the year on Saturday, 15 October 2022 and attended to a range of agenda matters that required its attention. A more comprehensive communique on some of the decisions taken at this meeting will be communicated at a later stage.

In the interim, I write to update the UCT community on the key issue of Council’s decision to rescind a resolution that it took at its special meeting on 6 October 2022. Following a lengthy and considered discussion, while bearing in mind the duty to act in the best interest of UCT at all times, the following decision was reached.

Council undertook to establish a panel of five independent members to investigate key matters relating to recent developments at the university. This investigation will focus on the circumstances related to the departure of a former UCT Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Teaching and Learning, as well as matters related to executive relationships and resignations within and beyond the UCT executive management team. The work of the independent panel needs to be undertaken urgently so that Council receives a report by the end of this year. Council will give further immediate attention to the process of overseeing the establishment of the independent panel as referred to above.

Deliberations which led up to these decisions demonstrated the depth and complexity of the matters at hand. It is important to continue appealing to all members of the UCT community to remain committed to placing the interests of UCT above all else. On behalf of Council, I thank you for your support in this regard. I request our community to allow this process to unfold so that the work that is required can be undertaken as expeditiously, thoroughly and fairly as possible to preserve the legacy of this great institution, which has, just this past week, maintained its position as the top ranked university in Africa on the Times Higher Education rankings.

Sincerely

Pheladi Gwangwa
Deputy Chair of Council

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