Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng, Vice Chancellor, University of Cape Town. Copyright: University of Cape Town.
The ongoing crisis at the University of Cape Town (UCT) took a new turn this week when it emerged that the council had offered to drop all charges against vice-chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng, and scrap the panel set up to investigate governance allegations against her, if she accepted an early-retirement package.
UCT had budgeted R9 million for the probe into the allegations but, unknown to the panel, led by retired supreme court of appeal president judge Lex Mpati, the council made overtures to Phakeng, offering her a retirement package which would see her leave in 2024.
The offer letter was sent on behalf of the council from Halton Cheadle of Cape Town law firm Bradley Conradie Halton Cheadle on 10 February. It said the council had agreed the day before on the disbandment of the panel and the withdrawal of all allegations against Phakeng.
The letter, seen by the Mail & Guardian, said the council would withdraw all allegations giving rise to the issues before the panel, including that she misled the UCT senate and played a role in the resignations of some executives.
Phakeng and council chairperson Babalwa Ngonyama were accused of misleading the university’s executive and senate about the reasons for the departure of deputy vice-chancellor for teaching and learning, Associate Professor Lis Lange.
“Further to discussions between Professor Phakeng and Mr Chris Brink on a possible settlement between her and the university, the council of the university resolved on 9 February 2023 to authorise the chair of council, Ms Babalwa Ngonyama, to make the following offer of settlement to resolve all disputes between the university and Professor Phakeng, which, if agreed, is conditional upon council’s approval,” the letter reads.
Phakeng had until close of business on 14 February to accept the offer, which would have seen her take early retirement on 28 February 2024. Her refusal to sign allegedly prompted threats from the council of suspension. However, on Friday, the university and council chair Ngonyama said Phakeng had not been suspended.
“No, that’s not correct. She is not suspended,” Ngonyama, who is abroad, said via WhatsApp. Ngonyama, herself, had been the focus of investigation but was mandated by council members to give Phakeng the deal. It is not known what has happened to the charges against her.
Among the top-earning vice-chancellors in the country, Phakeng, who succeeded Max Price in July 2018, receives a salary of R3.75 million, with housing and car allowances amounting to R1.2 million, and an annual bonus of R395 000, taking her yearly package to R5.4 million, according to last year’s annual report.
If she accepted the retirement offer, Phakeng would have been given study and research leave as a sabbatical. The university agreed to pay a settlement amount at the 2023 cost of employment on the date of retirement.
The early-retirement benefits include a tax directive for the lump-sum early retirement, which should attract the average tax rate and not the marginal tax rate. In addition, she would receive annual leave of 57.66 days to be paid out at the January 2023 salary rate of almost R1 million.
The council also proposed that Phakeng receive staff tuition benefits for life, a UCT email for life and post-retirement medical aid of R955 per month, provided she remained with the university’s medical aid provider.
Phakeng, through her lawyer, told the university that the offer of retirement should not be dependent on the probe being stopped. She said she wanted it to continue in public, so she could clear her name.
Lawyers for Phakeng said she was not amenable to including, as part of the settlement agreement, a provision that disbands the panel for investigation and the withdrawal of all allegations before the panel.
Some council members told the Mail & Guardian they had not been consulted about making the offer to Phakeng to give her early retirement and to abandon the probe.
“What would the panel think, making themselves available to probe allegations put out in the domain, only to be informed through the media that their services would not be required? Council’s conduct is scandalous,” one said.
By Friday, the UCT council had not responded to a query sent on Thursday about whether the panel members had been informed that their services might no longer be required.
Ishmael Mnisi, the spokesperson for the Department of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, said the minister, Dr Blade Nzimande, hoped the UCT council would approach the Phakeng matter with the requisite care and application of labour law, as required by the Higher Education Act.
He said the minister would request a report and an update on this matter from the council.
The Black Academic Caucus at UCT said the panel must be allowed to continue with its work.
“We are shocked and disturbed that council has decided to take this route of forcing the VC into early retirement,” it said in a statement.
“If this process is aborted, the university will be left none the wiser about the real causes of the issues that played out in public last year.”
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