There has been a high number of senior staff leaving the University of Cape Town (UCT) and the situation has raised an alarm for the institution.
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In a memo to the students and workers of the institution the UCT council chairperson, Babalwa Ngonyama said the university’s vice-chancellor (VC) Mamokgethi Phakeng would be returning to work today – 5 October.
Phakeng has been called back to her leadership position before the end of her five-month sabbatical because the board is concerned with the negative impact on the university’s reputation and academic credibility following a mass senior staff exodus and the circumstances surrounding it.
This follows a Senate meeting that revealed how UCT has lost half its senior leadership team over the past four years which was conducted on 30 September.
According to the Daily Maverick, “both the Vice-Chancellor, Mamokgethi Phakeng, and the Chair of the UCT Council, Babalwa Ngonyama, have deliberately misled the university’s governing bodies” with regards to the situation.
UCT’s former deputy vice-chancellor for teaching and learning, Lis Lange’s resignation instigated an inquiry as Lange in a letter to the Senate mentioned being forced out of her position by Ngonyama at Phakeng’s request.
The two are being accused of racism, bullying and intimidation. In the past four years 11 high-ranking UCT executive directors, deputy vice-chancellors and other senior administration members have left the institution.
According to News24, University spokesperson Elijah Moholola added that since July 2018 “30 members of the senior leadership team vacated their positions. Five of them retired when they turned 65, two took early retirement, two chose not to renew their terms, and two left following disciplinary processes.”
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Picture: Mamokgethiphakeng / Instagram