Higher Education and Training Minister Buti Manamela is adamant that allegations that the University of Cape Town’s faculty of social development intentionally awarding white students higher marks than their black counterparts will not be “brushed aside”.
“We owe it to the students, academics, and the public to get to the bottom of it and to act accordingly,” the department said in a statement.
Manamela has scheduled a meeting with Norman Arendse, the council chairperson of the University of Cape Town, and Professor Mosa Moshabela, the vice-chancellor.
“I will be engaging directly with the council chairperson and the vice-chancellor of UCT to
ascertain what internal investigations have been launched, what measures have been taken to safeguard academic standards, and how the university intends to restore public confidence,” reads the statement.
So far, the department has reviewed the dossier with all the information and is assessing the appropriate steps within the framework of the Higher Education Act.
This includes the possibility of conducting an oversight or appointing an independent inquiry if it is found that the institution has governance issues.
Disturbing trend
Sunday World reported recently that the former head of the department, Professor Ndangwa Noyoo, exposed the alleged racism in an affidavit he sent to both the department and the presidency.
Noyoo described the alleged malpractice as a “disturbing trend spearheaded by six individuals”, whose names are known to this publication.
“When I became the head of department in January 2018, I went after this scourge head-on because I had earlier been approached by black student whistleblowers who complained of being marginalised and penalised by this group of rogue academics.
“This disturbing trend was spearheaded by the aforementioned six individuals, and most likely this culture of impunity has not stopped.
“In most instances, this transgression was done to raise the marks of white students while black students were penalised,” Noyoo stated.
He further revealed that the lecturers disregarded the university’s examination policies by opening stickers containing student names while marking scripts, a violation of standard procedures meant to ensure impartiality.
The former employee was able to expose the malpractice with the help of the senior administrator through a sting operation.
