Africa-Press – South-Africa. The Stellenbosch University convocation’s motion of no confidence in vice-chancellor and rector Wim de Villiers was blocked from being distributed to members.
On Friday evening, it emerged that an official instruction was given to the university’s alumni not to distribute the motion a few hours after it had been adopted.
In a leaked email seen by News24 after the motion had been adopted by the executive committee of the university’s convocation, the president of the convocation, advocate Jan Heunis, said he had asked the registrar, Dr Ronel Retief, to ensure that the accompanying decision of the committee was distributed.
“I asked Dr Retief to ensure that the accompanying decision of the Executive Committee of the Convocation, which was unanimously accepted this morning, must be sent to all members of the convocation without delay. Please confirm that this has been done,” the email sent on Thursday afternoon said.
In response to Heunis, Alumni Relations Manager Shaun Stuart wrote: “Unfortunately, I was unable to send out the email to members of the Convocation, as I was instructed to send it to the Acting Chairman of the Council, Nicky Newton-King, to escalate and await further guidance before proceeding.”
The convocation adopted a motion of no confidence in De Villiers following allegations of nepotism that emerged over the past few weeks.
The motion calls for De Villiers and Retief to resign before the council’s meeting, which is expected to take place on Monday.
“The executive committee of the Stellenbosch University [SU] convocation requests that the rector and the registrar of SU resign from their respective positions in view thereof that they are apparently not able to deny their involvement in a serious instance of nepotism, and that such behaviour is particularly unacceptable given the extreme levels of corrupt leadership in our country,” the motion reads.
The committee added that, if De Villiers failed to resign from his position before the meeting of the council, it was requested – in accordance with the demands of ethical leadership, governance, and the best interests of the university – that appropriate steps be taken.
Last week, reports emerged that De Villiers had used his discretionary right to secure a place for Charlie Linnegar, the nephew of his wife Catherine.
This came to light when an applicant with better matric marks did not get accepted in the same course.
Earlier this week, News24 reported that a second family member had been placed at the university without De Villiers disclosing it to the council.
While no details of the second family member have been revealed, Newton-King sent an internal circular to staff last week confirming the admission of a second relative under the discretionary programme.
The university’s admission policy states that a rector may, after consultation with the deans, request students be allowed to study a “mainstream or extended degree programme”.
He is scheduled to face a motion of no confidence during a council meeting over the placement saga.
The nepotism allegations against him come hot on the heels of a scathing report from the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), which found students at the university were being prevented from communicating in Afrikaans in 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 FF Plus filed a complaint with the commission in March 2021.
On Friday evening, the university said it had noted the statement and opinions of the executive committee of the convocation, but emphasised the matter would be on the council meeting’s agenda on Monday.
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