South Africa: Parliament Weighs in On UCT's Big Phakeng-Ngonyama Failed Leadership Mess

8 November 2023
Daily Maverick (Johannesburg)
By Suné Payne

Some committee members said Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande should consider appointing an independent assessor to look into the Mpati Report on governance at UCT after the SRC, two unions and some of the MPs raised concerns about its independence and recommendations.

There was some tension on Wednesday when the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Science and Innovation met with University of Cape Town (UCT) leaders to consider the damning findings and recommendations of an independent panel investigation into governance matters at the institution.

The committee said stakeholders at the university needed to up their game after the panel report that laid bare serious governance issues involving, in the main, former vice-chancellor Mamokgethi Phakeng and former council chair Babalwa Ngonyama.

Some committee members said Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande should consider appointing an independent assessor to look into the report after the SRC, two unions and some of the MPs raised concerns about the report's independence and recommendations.

Committee Chair Nompendulo Mkhatshwa later attempted to clarify things when addressing the UCT Council chair, Norman Arendse:

"Chair, we're not saying we must interrogate the work that the panel did; we're actually saying there must be...

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