Africa-Press – South-Africa. Stellenbosch University’s council has appointed a three-member committee to probe allegations of nepotism against its vice-chancellor, Professor Wim de Villiers.
The university on Tuesday announced the probe would be headed by retired Justice Carole Lewis, who would chair the committee, and joined by council members Helena Conradie and Ziyanda Stuurman.
Lewis was previously the Dean of the Faculty of Law at Wits University and a judge of the Johannesburg High Court.
She retired from the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in 2019 after nearly 17 years.
Conradie, a chartered financial analyst, was elected to the council earlier this year by donors, and Stuurman – a public policy, policing and security analyst – has served on the council as an appointee of the minister of higher education, science and technology since 2017.
In April, a motion of no confidence in De Villiers was tabled by the DA’s Stellenbosch constituency head and council member, Leon Schreiber.
The council agreed that the matter should be referred to a committee of three people to investigate the allegations.
The committee would investigate the facts underlying the motion, including allegations of nepotism and a possible breach of related rules in relation to De Villiers’ discretionary placement of family members at the university.
The committee will report its findings to the council, and provide recommendations.
It will be submitted to the chair of the council by the end of this month.
The council’s chairperson, Nicky Newton-King, said the committee would start work in mid-May and submit its full written report, with findings and recommendations, if any, to the council as a matter of urgency.
Newton-King added:
Rapport revealed in April that De Villiers had used his discretionary right to secure a place for his wife’s nephew at the university’s medical school. This came to light when an applicant with better matric marks did not get accepted.
After this was questioned, De Villiers withdrew his nephew’s placement.
The nepotism allegations followed a report by the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), which found that students at the university were being prevented from communicating in Afrikaans at some residences during the welcoming week.
The SAHRC found the university had violated the rights of Afrikaans-speaking students.
This was after the DA and the FF Plus filed a complaint with the SAHRC in March 2021.
The council has also now decided to review the discretionary placement policy in its totality.
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