JONATHAN JANSEN | Curtains, big bucks and flash rides, but the honour to lead should be a perk enough
It is appalling in this day and age that a vice-chancellor gets a furnished house and luxury vehicle from institutions funded by the taxpayer
From Cape Town to Pretoria, the leadership of South African universities is in complete disarray. At UCT, a panel investigating governance at the university rushed to release an interim report with this extraordinary announcement about the chair of council: the facts to date “are sufficient to conclude that her continued presence as chair of council poses a serious risk to the university” and that “she cannot be trusted to fulfil her fiduciary duty to the university”. Wow! You would be hard pressed in 100 years’ existence of the South African university to find a sharper public rebuke of the head of governance at any higher education institution. Before the council could fire its head, per the panel’s astounding finding, the chair resigned in what was clearly a pre-emptive strike; it is better to resign than to have “fired” on your curriculum vitae...
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