Bronwen Roberts
THE Rhodes University Council has been accused of using “dirty tricks” to hijack the selection of the university’s next vice-chancellor.
The allegation comes from the Forum for the Democratic Transformation of Rhodes (FDTR), a group of community-based organisations, in response to a council decision to restructure the selection panel.
In December the council decided to withdraw the voting rights of the four FDTR representatives, questioning their bona fides.
Rhodes came under fire last year when community-based organisations said the university was attempting to choose the next vice-chancellor in secret and was rejecting public selection procedures.
The FDTR was then given four seats on the 20-member selection panel and were, they say, “fully involved in the selection of the short-list of three candidates”. On the list are Professor David Woods, deputy vice-chancellor of the University of Cape Town; Dr M Smout, vice-principal of Rhodes; and Professor Eddie Webster of the Wits University.
Minutes of December’s council meeting state that FDTR representatives would have observer status on the panel “until they have proved their democratic credentials”. The meeting said the FDTR was “out of control” and unrepresentative.
The council also decided to expand the panel to include representatives from the university’s administration, the local business community and schools.
Council members now “simply want to know what groups (the FDTR members) represent and how they were chosen”. FDTR convener Lali Naidoo said the forum would only discuss the matter with the full selection committee. — Ecna