Whistle-blower and former employee Professor Ndangwa Noyoo has levelled accusations of dishonesty against the University of Cape Town, asserting that the institution attempted to cover up the involvement of Associate Professor Leon Holtzhausen in the office fire.
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Following UCT’s spokesperson Elijah Moholola’s statement to the Sunday Independent last week, where he mentioned that the university conducted two investigations on the scene and found no conclusive evidence, resulting in no recommended action against Holtzhausen, Noyoo, former head of the University’s Department of Social Development, denounced this as a falsehood and a cover-up for Holtzhausen.
According to IOL, the incident, which occurred in 2018, allegedly involved Holtzhausen, purportedly a drug user, starting the fire to conceal evidence incriminating him.
Noyoo claimed that while the internal investigation by Campus Protection Services (CPS) and head of investigation Warren Pekeur implicated Holtzhausen, the second investigation was initiated to protect him.
Moholola reiterated UCT’s stance, stating that both internal and external investigations found no conclusive evidence and thus recommended no action against Holtzhausen. He expressed the university’s concern regarding the dissemination of inaccurate claims by a ‘former staff member’ in the media regarding the issue.
Furthermore, Moholola mentioned that UCT preferred not to delve into specifics at this point. However, he confirmed that two investigations and subsequent reports concluded that there was insufficient evidence against the academic and therefore suggested no further action.
‘To reiterate, two investigations were conducted on the incident that occurred in October 2018. One was an internal investigation by UCT’s Campus Protection Services (CPS) in 2018, and another was an external investigation by an independent party in 2022. Both reports found no conclusive evidence and recommended no action against the academic.’
‘The claim that the internal investigation established that the fire was not accidental but the arson(sic) is incorrect. The internal CPS report, which the journalist refers to, states that the investigating officer was unable to find the exact cause of the fire and who was responsible for the fire,’ said Moholola, who added that UCT was also contacted by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) on the matter in July 2023 and has shared the relevant information in response to questions asked by the department.
Moholola indicated that the university is awaiting the DHET report and will take appropriate action once it has been received and reviewed.
Pekeur’s report revealed footage of Holtzhausen carrying a box that CPS confirmed was from his office when they extinguished the fire. Additionally, pictures of the office suggested someone had used or smoked a hookah pipe there.
However, DHET’s investigation found Pekeur’s findings somewhat inconclusive, lacking clear recommendations. Noyoo argued that, as the former HOD, it was Pekeur’s duty to escalate the matter and recommend disciplinary action against Holtzhausen to his superiors. Noyoo claimed to have made such recommendations to senior management and the dean of the Faculty of Humanities.
Despite Noyoo’s recommendations, the university allegedly did not take action. Noyoo claimed that one senior manager even exonerated Holtzhausen after calling him into their office.
‘What should have happened, then, are two processes which the dean should have spearheaded: Recommended that Holzthausen appear before a Preliminary Investigation Committee (PIC) which is Chaired by independent academics with legal standing and other credentials.’
‘Since Holtzhausen was an Associate Professor, this PIC should have been chaired by a deputy vice-chancellor, probably for Transformation,’ said Noyoo.
Noyoo asserted that the dean should have provided the PIC convenors with the arson report, which evidently outlined a prima facie case against Holtzhausen and revealed evidence linking him to the arson.
‘Then the PIC should have tested the veracity and seriousness of the evidence against Holtzhausen and ascertained whether there was a prima facie case against him or not. If the PIC had established that Holtzhausen had a case to answer, then the matter should have been referred to the Committee of Inquiry (COI), which if it had found that Holtzhausen was guilty as charged, then it could have recommended for his dismissal among other things.’
‘Holtzhausen has never been brought before a PIC or COI. Moholola and UCT management knows very well the disciplinary and other procedures that guide the university and should not lie to the South African public. This is not only mischievous but extremely diabolical,’ he said.
Noyoo reported the matter to Professor Shose Kessi after her appointment as the new dean in November 2019. However, she chose to establish an ad hoc committee consisting of her acquaintances and associates of Holtzhausen.
‘They recommended to quash the matter altogether. After this, the matter was supposedly buried forever,’ said Noyoo, who added that the appointment of Holtzhausen as HOD was a staged affair and was rigged by Kessi.
Noyoo alleged that Kessi also engaged a ‘so-called’ investigator to probe the fire incident, purportedly in an attempt to shield Holtzhausen from scrutiny.
‘I was approached by the said investigator via an email to have a meeting with her on Zoom. I knew from the way it was constituted that it was a cover-up. Nonetheless, I reluctantly accepted her invitation. It became clear to me that this “investigation” was a sham and cover-up after the said investigator asked me leading questions and made suggestions that exposed her intentions.’
Noyoo recounted that this occurred after the investigator allegedly posed the question: ‘But don’t you think that it was a student who crept through a small window at the back of the office to smoke the drugs?’ The question made him feel offended, he said.
‘And I also felt that my intelligence was insulted in the same breath because this investigator was not there when the fire was doused in 2018. I was there and I was one of the first UCT officials to arrive at the scene of the crime.’
‘I then told her to stop interviewing me forthwith and discontinued the interview altogether. This is the investigation that Elijah Moholola refers to as an external investigation, which found no conclusive evidence and recommended no action against Holtzhausen,’ said Noyoo.
When asked about the question posed to Noyoo, Moholola declined to provide further comment on behalf of UCT at this time. He noted that Kessi only assumed the role of acting dean on 1 March 2019, five months after the fire incident, before being officially appointed in December 2019.
Moholola clarified that deans or line managers do not directly appoint investigators at UCT. According to UCT procedures, HR recommends an investigator to line managers, who then make the appointment.
A DHET report recommended that UCT reopen the investigation to examine how senior management handled the allegations of Holtzhausen’s drug abuse and organisational structure. Additionally, the department advised reopening the investigation into the fire’s causes and Holtzhausen’s involvement.
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Picture: Matthew Jordaan / Gallo Images