The painful process of resolving the Wits crisis has begun. Philippa Garson reports
THE first painful steps towards healing the University of the Witwatersrand’s troubled psyche are being taken: the suspension of deputy vice-chancellor William Malegapuru Makgoba is likely to be lifted at today’s Council meeting.
The protagonists — academics pitted against each other –are also expected to agree to mediation as a means to resolve aspects of the dispute which began as a move to oust Makgoba, and which has boiled over into a bitter fight for ideological control of the university with liberals and Africanists at opposing ends of the battlefield.
The Mail & Guardian has been reliably informed that vice-chancellor Robert Charlton and Makgoba have negotiated new conditions for the lifting of his supsension and that Council merely has to “rubber stamp” the new agreement.
Initially, Makgoba rejected the conditions set down for the lifting of his suspension, which was imposed after he released confidential information to the media on the 13 academics who, in October, signed a lengthy dossier accusing Makgoba of falsifying his curriculum vitae, of mismanagement and of bringing the university’s name into disrepute with his public utterances.
Earlier conditions put to Makgoba included that he stop speaking to the press and that he return all the confidential university files, and copies of them, that form the basis of his counter-allegations against the 13 academics, including that they are under-qualified for the senior positions they hold (most are deans) and that they have been party to tax evasion.
Makgoba has returned the files and a compromise has been made whereby he will no longer keep the copies, but will still have access to them in the event of an inquiry.
Meanwhile, the university Council has appointed advocate Malcolm Wallis, commissioner of the tax court and chairman of the general council of the Bar, to investigate and report on all the allegations against the 13 academics.
The proposed tribunal, comprised of three foreign academics, which was expected to sit towards the end of this month, is unlikely to go ahead in its present form. The one black academic on the tribunal, Zimbabwean academic Walter Kamba, reportedly said he would not participate if all stakeholders involved in the dispute were not satisfied with its composition.
Makgoba rejected the tribunal on the basis that it did not include anyone with expertise in his field, or with experience of tertiary education in the South African context.
The Wits Transformation Front, comprised of the SRC, South African Students Congress, Wits Black Staff Forum and two unions, also rejected the tribunal on grounds that they had no say in its constitution and that its terms of reference were not broad enough.
After the stormy Council meeting last month, when Aggrey Klaaste and Ntato Motlana expressed dissatisfaction at the university’s handling of the matter, council member Justice Fakile Bam, presiding judge over the Land Claims Court, was requested by Council to be the go-between to “have another look at the composition of the tribunal” and canvas the views of all stakeholders in the university. At today’s meeting, Bam will report on suggested additional candidates to participate in a hearing.
According to insiders, 10 of the 13 academics have adopted a more conciliatory approach and are increasingly open to independent mediation as a way forward. Wits Law professor Etienne Mureinik, said to have spearheaded the conciliatory move, denied there were any such moves afoot. The three hardliners, said to be resisting any capitulation whatsoever are Charles Van Onselen, Keith Beavon and Keith Yeoman.
Meanwhile the crisis — undoubtedly a turning point for the university — has all but put the breaks on the formal transformation process, taking place in the Forum for Accelerated Change and Transformation (Ffact). All the groups comprising the WTF withdrew from Ffact at a meeting last month because of the “partisan” way Charlton (who chairs Ffact) was dealing with the crisis, said SRC president Tyani Mohlaba.