City Press reports that University of Cape Town (UCT) Professor Elelwani Ramugondo is taking the university to court for hiring a “less qualified” white academic as its deputy vice-chancellor for teaching and learning.
Joining her in court is the university’s Black Academic Caucus (BAC), which claims the institution flouted the rules when appointing Professor Lis Lange in December. Ramugondo, a full professor, lost out to Lange, an associate professor and former University of the Free State vice-rector for academics. She claimed on Friday that she was overlooked because of institutional racism at UCT and commented: “Institutional racism is a blind spot. Racists within an organisation that is experienced as racist by those who are marginalised, are unable to recognise the problem themselves. The diagnosis must be done by an independent body and a court of law is best placed to do this. It is for this reason that I would like for this appointment process to be placed under legal scrutiny.” Ramugondo said she was going to court reluctantly after first trying “to engage all appropriate internal structures to resolve the issues.”
- Read this report by Msindisi Fengu in full at City Press
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