Borders at universities are stopping solutions to global crises.
The University of Pretoria (Tuks) will investigate a professor for “possible misconduct” after the Mail & Guardian reported last week on allegations that racial discrimination had hindered his career progress at the university.
In the report, Michael Kachienga, an associate professor of engineering, said Tuks had for years refused to promote him to full professor (“Tuks academic makes racism claim“, December 9). He attributed this to racial harassment and victimisation he had experienced from some of Tuks’s white executives.
“Just because of my comments to the M&G, they now want to take this disciplinary action,” Kachienga said this week. “I didn’t look for the media to announce my problem, I just confirmed what I was asked.”
Kachienga told the M&G he learnt this week from his head of department, Tinus Pretorius, that his application for the leave he wanted to take from next Monday had been vetoed. This was because the university “is launching a disciplinary investigation against you”, Pretorius emailed Kachienga on Tuesday.
Pretorius was one of those against whom Kachienga made complaints of racial discrimination in last week’s M&G story.
On Tuesday, Kachienga questioned the denial of his leave application. On the same day, he received a letter from Tuks’s human resources department, saying Pretorius had been “requested” to inform Kachienga that his application had been denied.
This was “in view of the launching of a preliminary investigation into possible misconduct … resulting in repercussions in the press”, the letter said. The leave was denied because his “presence is required during the investigation”, it said.
Kachienga said it appeared the university believed he violated the agreement he signed with them last year in negotiations over his salary demands. “I signed that agreement with my rights reserved,” he said.
“It’s only applicable if everything was resolved [but] up to today the university still keeps my salary band a secret from me.” He also questioned why the urgency of the investigation was such that he could not be away from Tuks next week.
University officials, including Pretorius, declined to answer questions sent by the M&G on Wednesday, including about the links between the “investigation” and the newsÂpaper’s report last week.
“The University of Pretoria can’t give comment regarding the details of its disciplinary investigations and/or processes,” said university spokesperson Denver Hendricks.
The Higher Education Transformation Network, a national alumni lobby organisation at loggerheads with Tuks over its alleged lack of transformation, said the university’s denial of Kachienga’s leave and its investigation constituted further prejudice against him “because he is black”.
“We strongly feel that Kachienga’s harassment and victimisation should not be allowed,” said Lucky Thekisho, the network’s chairperson. “Black employees of the university will now fear coming forward with organisational problems. It appears the university now wants to charge Kachienga for crying out in the media,” said Thekisho.
The M&G has previously reported on the network’s claim that Tuks’s institutional culture is antagonistic towards its black employees (“Race row at Tukkies hots up“, November 25). That report said the network was lobbying the government to intervene over the lack of transformation at the university.
The network said that it, Kachienga and his union, the National Health and Allied Workers’ Union, would lay a charge of labour-rights violation with the labour department after this week’s moves against the professor.
Thekisho said they wanted to stop the university from “moving quickly to push out” Kachienga.
Kachienga said he commented in last week’s M&G report because the university was unwilling to address his problems. Since joining the university in 2001, he had been unfairly kept at associate professor level.
Kachienga, who comes from Kenya, said he had planned to go on vacation overseas with his family next week.
“Why should I be punished for telling the truth, even if I told it to your newspaper?” he asked.