[DEBATE] : Re: makgoba bans meeting

[Stefan Andreasson]

It would seem a fair bet that you'll see a lot more of this sort of
action at South African universities?

Are academics and other staff well unionised at University of
KwaZulu-Natal, and if so what line are unions taking on this kind of
action?

Stefan


> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: "Richard Pithouse" <Pithouser at ukzn.ac.za>
> To: <debate at lists.kabissa.org>
> Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2006 16:23:54 +0200
> Subject: [DEBATE] : makgoba bans meeting
>
>
>
> Varsity debate stifled
> *Thu, 22 Jun 2006
>
>
> By Lindsay Barnes
>
>
> Group planning to discuss transformation ideas told not to meet
>
>
> A move by University of KwaZulu-Natal Vice Chancellor William Makgoba to block a group of academics discussing their proposals for transformation at the university is a deliberate attempt to gag them, members of the group said.
>
> The group of 14 academics, representing all campuses except Westville, was due to meet at the Assagay Hotel on Tuesday to discuss a document they have drawn up with suggestions on transformation.
>
> However, on Monday Professor Makgoba effectively blocked the meeting, said Nithaya Chetty, an associate professor of physics at the Pietermaritzburg campus.
>
> "The vice chancellor basically sabotaged the meeting by gagging one individual [Professor Rob Morrell] and by insisting that the rest of us need permission from our line managers to attend such a meeting," he said. However, the human resources department has since confirmed they need no such permission, he added.
>
> The group met recently at the hotel in response to a document drawn up by the Black African Academic Forum that argued that the university is not transforming quickly enough and proposed methods for speeding up the process to recruit more African academics.
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> The forum's document was put before the Senate with the tacit consent of Makgoba and there was no real opposition to its proposals from the Senate, said Christopher Merrett, director of administration for the Pietermaritzburg campus.
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> The group of which Chetty is part formed in reaction to discuss this development. Many staff members have taken issue with the forum's proposed means by which transformation is to be achieved, Merrett said.
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> "The means are very reminiscent of those used by the apartheid regime to empower Afrikaaners. That is, you are reduced to the colour of your skin and ethnic origins," he said.
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> For instance, the forum suggested that in the short and medium term, the university should employ black African academics from countries north of South Africa's borders to address the current shortage. Less than 20% of the current academic staff are black, Merrett said.
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> However, the group finds this proposal unacceptable as it is black South Africans who were disadvantaged under the apartheid regime and who need to be recruited, rather than targeting all black Africans, he said.
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> Professor Morrell of the School of Education has proposed more appropriate ways to achieve transformation and from this a draft document was drawn up, he said.
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> According to Chetty, the group's aim is to "address racial demographics at the university without compromising research output, teaching, supervision and other core academic functions".
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> One of their proposals is that the "massive" salaries of the university's 16 executives - including that of Makgoba, who reputedly earns a total package of more than R2 million a year, which exceeds President Thabo Mbeki's salary - be cut to fund an aggressive recruitment exercise to find the best black SA academic staff candidates, he said.
>
> On Tuesday this week, the group was to meet again with the intention of drawing in a broader spectrum of staff members to discuss the draft document, their goal being to present a set of suggestions on transformation to Senate. However, Makgoba prevented them from going ahead. "The debate was closed down in an unacceptable way but the group is determined to continue with this," he said. "The vice chancellor seems unable to understand that we are trying to play a constructive role in transformation * I am totally puzzled why he would want to stop [Tuesday's] meeting, given that the university is a place of open and free debate," he said.
>
> Chetty said the group has no intention of exacerbating an "already volatile situation within the university" but he questioned why the African forum was able to meet without impediment. "We are deeply distressed by the vice chancellor's stance on this as clearly he is displaying double standards," he said.
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>
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> Makgoba is in London. University spokesman Dasrath Chetty declined to comment and referred The Witness to acting vice chancellor Pete Zacharias, who could not be reached for comment.
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> lindsay at witness.co.za
>
> Published: 22 June 2006