The Stellenbosch University council has referred the matter of the Wilgenhof panel's report for further investigation. File image
The Stellenbosch University council has referred the matter of the Wilgenhof panel's report for further investigation.
The panel will present its findings to council in time for its meeting scheduled for December 2 for council to decide on appropriate action.
An urgent meeting was convened following explosive allegations by its chancellor, Justice Edwin Cameron, that two of SU's senior staffers conspired to change the contents of an independent investigation into alleged misdeeds at the residence.
Cameron filed an affidavit as part of ongoing litigation over the Wilgenhof matter, claiming that Professor Wim de Villiers, and Dr Nicky Newton-King, allegedly made changes to the final document that was then presented.
Cameron further alleged that the pair withheld information about the changes from the university’s council when it took a decision on the way forward.
In a statement released on Friday, SU said the council chair and rector recused themselves from the meeting to allow for an impartial discussion and decision-making process.
"Based on the chancellor’s affidavit, the responding affidavit submitted by the chair of the panel together with submissions to council from the vice-chancellor and chair of council, council has elected to refer the matter for further investigation," SU said.
It added that council tasked the Social and Business Ethics Committee ("SBE") and the Audit and Risk Committee ("ARC") of the council to appoint and co-ordinate appropriate independent expert(s) ("The Panel") to investigate; the circumstances in which the Wilgenhof Panel report was changed, whether the executive committee of council decided at its June 4 meeting that Wilgenhof should be closed, and whether the chair of council should have disclosed the chancellor’s concern around the changing of the final paragraph of the Wilgenhof report to council at its June 24 meeting.
SU said in its meeting in September, council resolved to close the residence and replace it with a "reimagined and renewed male residence student community."
SU said with a settlement between the university and Association for the Advancement of Wilgenhof Residents (AWIR), an agreement was reached to accommodate Wilgenhof residents by shortening the period of closure to one semester and by allowing those students who wish to do so, to stay in the larger of the two new north campus residences.
"It is important to note that the settlement does not compromise on the crux of the council decision," SU said.
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