Retroid Raving

Retroid Raver wishes all who inhabit the UCT Blogosphere a peaceful and happy if not particularly prosperous -

1. Saturnalia
2. Solstice festival
3. Xmas
4. Break

All / one / none of the above, as appropriate.

We've earned one...or I feel I have, at any rate.  And the Grolsch to go with it...B-)  So from me and mine, to you and yours: enjoy.

It is inexpressibly sad to see the place where I did so important a part of my growing up, collapse into chaos, starvation and despair.

For no other reason than the geriatrics and kleptocrats who hung onto power, don't dare let go.

For Zimbabwe, then: a song from my growing up.  Chicago....

Lowdown

Oh my
Life has passed me by
The country I was brought up in
Fell apart and died
Oh no
Love's no longer there
Cold wind blew away the sun
That used to warm the air
Lowdown
Ooo! Feelin' pretty bad
Feelin' like I lost the best friend
That I ever had
Lowdown
Ooo! Got to find a way
Got to make the people see
The way I feel today

Words: Peter Cetera - Daniel Seraphine

While Retroid has been aware for some time that there were rumblings from the bowels of the Beast Down the Hill, it appears as though these have broken out into the public domain well and truly.

From IOL today:

Deputy registrar on carpet, UCT confirms

By Natasha Joseph

The University of Cape Town (UCT) has finally acknowledged its deputy registrar, Paul Ngobeni, is the subject of an internal disciplinary hearing.

But the institution says it will not disclose what charges Ngobeni faces, nor the composition of the disciplinary committee because it does not want to conduct its internal processes "in the public domain".

Ngobeni, UCT's deputy registrar responsible for legal services and secretariat, first attracted attention when he wrote an opinion piece for the Cape Times in October last year in which he said "calls by some lawyers and academics for the removal of Judge President John Hlophe (were) intended as a threat to the very notion of judicial independence these lawyers pay lip service to".It later emerged that Ngobeni, a lawyer, had been found guilty in the United States of misconduct and barred from practising in three states.

Earlier this year, the Mail and Guardian reported that Ngobeni was the subject of an internal disciplinary hearing at UCT - a process that Ngobeni claimed was related to his public statements in support of Hlophe.

At the time, UCT refused to confirm that Ngobeni had been called to face a disciplinary hearing. But it has now acknowledged this was so.

"The hearing has not been concluded, but we are hopeful it will be soon. UCT is committed, even at the end of the disciplinary process, to maintaining Mr Ngobeni's right to have this matter regarded as private," UCT said in a statement.

It would not be drawn on the details of the hearing.

"The university respects staff members' rights to dignity and privacy and does not intend conducting processes, guided by its staff disciplinary procedure, in the public domain."

natasha.joseph@inl.co.za

Curiouser and curiouser...after saying nothing for months, when the only news coming out of it were the various broadsides from Obi-Wan, supporting Showerhead Man and an injustice, the mountain finally stirs - and brings forth a mouse.  Not even the charges are public??  Ah, well....

 The saga continues.