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Sources at UCT claim the academic’s suicide was linked to the university’s alleged resistance to his efforts to transform his faculty
The death of University of Cape Town (UCT) Professor Bongani Mayosi has again brought up a debate about transformation at universities.
On Thursday concerned academics and the Black Academic Caucus at UCT called for an inquiry into circumstances surrounding Mayosi’s suicide, stating that black academics, staff and students were marginalised.
On Friday UCT spokesperson Elijah Moholola said recently appointed UCT vice-chancellor Mamokgethi Phakeng had initiated such an inquiry shortly after Mayosi’s death.
Mayosi, who was dean of the health faculty at the university, committed suicide last Friday.
Sources within UCT have linked Mayosi’s death to a lack of transformation, and the university’s alleged resistance to the acceptance of black academics, staff and students.
“Senior white academics would send emails saying he was incompetent. He was constantly reminded that he was not good enough. His strides to transform his faculty were blocked,” said a source within the university.
The source said for Phakeng to blame student protests for Mayosi’s death was disingenuous, and perhaps a strategy to prepare the university for the worst to come.
“Mayosi was instrumental in fighting for transformation and there was no way he could be depressed by student protests to such an extent he could commit suicide. He had just passed the mental health policy for students, which is going to help depressed students in the faculty. He was attending to demands of students around victimisation and unfair assessment of black students compared to whites. Part of these complaints included the fact that black students have no cars to travel to clinics that are far away, but they are assessed without taking this into consideration. Black students want the playing field to be levelled. Mayosi was dealing with that.”
Another source said Mayosi had played a huge role in transforming his faculty.
“The majority of staff in his faculty are black, and there is no other faculty at UCT that is like that. That’s part of his legacy.”
Responding to the allegations, Moholola said Phakeng has urged the university community to reflect on the passing of Mayosi with dignity, integrity and honesty.
“The university recognises that however deeply distressing the occasion is, the passing of Professor Mayosi provides the space for all within the UCT community to reflect with integrity, honesty and compassion on the loss and how we can support each other as individuals and as a community and create caring communities. It is a moment to build the university community.”
Moholola denied allegations that Mayosi’s plans to transform his faculty were blocked by management.
“The UCT executive is committed to transformation and supports all initiatives in all faculties. Among the strategic goals of the university is to create an inclusive identity for UCT with a student and staff body that is more representative of the country and the continent, and for students and staff to see themselves – their cultures, values, heritage and knowledge systems – reflected at the university.
The claim that the executive blocked transformation efforts in the faculty of health sciences (FHS) would therefore be illogical. Transformation is one of three key strategic streams underpinning the FHS Strategic Plan Vision 2030,” Moholola said.
He said Phakeng had released a statement in which she indicated that reports that she blamed Mayosi’s death on student protests were not true.
UCT was among universities that made submissions to the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) as part of an investigation into transformation at universities during public hearings in 2014.
The SAHRC investigation focused on lack of transformation in public universities in the past 20 years.
The SAHRC recommended that the department of higher education and training led by Naledi Pandor exercise its powers to hold universities accountable for their lack of transformation.
Pandor’s spokesperson, Lunga Ngqengelele, said Pandor has appointed a Transformation Oversight Committee that has a mandate to monitor progress on transformation in public universities‚ serve as an expert advisory body and provide independent and external advice to the minister and the department on matters of transformation.
He said the committee is also tasked with reviewing the annual reports of institutions on transformation and producing an annual report on the state of transformation in the higher education sector.
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