Media Flaws

Whilst driving to the office this morning I see “UCT Parts ways with Ngobeni” – interesting. When I get to the office I see inbox headlines which can be summed up as “Ngobeni parts ways with UCT.” Mh-mm I must say I quite like the newspaper headline version which is in stark contrast to the following joint statement by the VC and now former Deputy Registrar.

“Having satisfactorily resolved the matters, Dr Ngobeni has expressed his wish to leave UCT to pursue other interests and we wish him all the very best in his future endeavours.”

Part of me would like to believe this and part of me would like not to. We will never know, owing to the confidential nature of the Disciplinary Hearings at our institution. But if anything goes and I were to embark on a speculative rant I’d say Dr Ngobeni has been firing warning shots ever since I first heard of his name here. How UCT made that appointment, of an alleged disbarred US lawyer and it lasted this long is way beyond me. Perhaps it was part of this transformation we so long to see at tertiary institutions. But how can a man who constantly puked on the doorstep of this institution at every occasion the media afforded him be now given such a ceremonious all the best for the future. If anything Dr Ngobeni has scratched so hard on the surface of UCT’s skin that we were left looking bloody racist. One need only quote the doctor’s most recent orders surrounding the law faculty which he describes as a faculty beset by a racist “group of gangsters” which is hell-bent on white domination on judiciary benches or let me rather prescribe the doctor’s orders verbatim: “Whites want to entrench themselves in the last unelected branch of government - the judiciary,” he told local media.

And again this is where it all goes pear-shaped with transformation. The only thing that could have landed our dear doctor here the job in question is his curriculum vitae credentials. No attempt was made to assess the character ‘itself’. And that is where I need to pause. I have often sat through lectures, listened to certain black staff members from various campuses across the country and wondered how on earth they were appointed. The answer: the CV. And yes, perhaps the curriculum vitae is one strong indicator of an incumbent’s potential but to what extent are these people grilled during interviews or is it just a rush to appoint a ‘transformee’ with great credentials? The fact of the matter is that if transformation is to be achieved within a university's staff complement there needs to be a change of targeting – there should be a much more concerted attempt at grooming our own black students into staff – this whole picking and selecting of celebrated black icons and academics needs to go, because quite frankly I do not believe that any black person above the age of 35, probably went to Fort Hare, Lovedale and other black fortresses of acedemia is immune to racism lenses. It’s just a sad matter of fact that the older generation of blacks who struggled hard to get to where they are academically are most likely to be race-sensitive. This can be a good and bad thing. Good in the sense that if they are right and perhaps a university's law faculty is indeed racist then that’s a good call, but if they are wrong and a university's law faculty is a sweet group of humming birds then that’s questionable.

If at this stage you’ve spotted this blowing-my-own-horn agenda I’ve got going here then it's inevitable that you’re fully aware that I am a proponent of the juniorisation of academics – particularly where blacks are concerned.

I have thought long and hard about this and finally figured that if universities want to attract more black students or perhaps let me say retain black students – there has to be a change of perspective and employment criteria. To say that by having black staff members, black students will feel much more at home is just hogwash, but by having younger black staff members you start creating an impression to aspire towards and a much more open gateway. Let’s face it – black people are culturally groomed not to approach their elders – we just have this unspoken respect law – that somehow makes older figures unapproachable where matters of opinion / emotion are concerned. As a child you keep your opinions to yourself. So younger black staff it must be. Now I know this might be a tad bit of a reductivist point of view but nonetheless it could be a start as opposed to hauling in wounded academics from the past.

And as for Dr Ngobeni, I too would like to wish him all the best for his future endeavours.