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Wamkelekile, Welkom
Wamkelekile, Welkom
Public Protector visits UCT Ombud
18 February 2019 | Story Supplied. Photo Nardus Engelbrecht. Read time 2 min.
The University of Cape Town’s Ombud Zetu Makamandela-Mguqulwa and Public Protector Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane have formalised the relationship between their offices with a plan to draw up a memorandum of understanding.
The meeting, on 8 February, was the Public Protector’s first physical visit to UCT, but the two offices have previously worked together informally to either de-escalate or escalate matters, as required. Mkhwebane was accompanied on the visit by Advocate Suné Griessel of the Western Cape office of the Public Protector South Africa (PPSA) and Betty Ngobeni, PPSA executive assistant.
The Public Protector is the president of the African Ombudsman and Mediators Association (AOMA) and chairperson of the African Ombudsman Research Centre (AORC). She is also a member of the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI).
The UCT Ombud is a member of the International Ombudsman Association (IOA) and the African regional chairperson of the IOA’s international committee. Both organisations have been looking into formalising a relationship.
Discussions during the closed meeting revolved around several topics of mutual interest.
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Next Generation Professoriate (NGP)
The Next Generation Professoriate (NGP) is a mid-career academic staff development and support programme. Funded by the vice-chancellor’s Strategic Funds, the NGP addresses demographic inequalities in the academic hierarchy. The goal is to help members become associate and full professors.
The NGP was officially launched in September 2015. By the end of 2018, four of its members had been promoted to full professor and a further 14 had reached the rank of associate professor.
The programme is led by Dr Robert Morrell, who has over 35 years of academic experience in South African universities. He has a B1-rating from the the National Research Foundation (NRF) and is an elected member of the Academy of Sciences in South Africa.
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