The numbers
The results are in – and the four candidates who ran on a classical liberal / anti-Woke / good governance ticket achieved a clean sweep in the University of Cape Town’s alumni election for Council. Full details are set out below[1]:
The week before the vote – and almost as an afterthought – I decided to write an article endorsing David Ansara, Advocate Mark Oppenheimer, Kelly Phelps and Professor Brian Kantor. David and Mark are old friends of mine from the South African Institute of Race Relations. They are authentic and brave classical liberals for whom I have the highest regard. When they appeared alongside Kelly Phelps and Professor Brian Kantor proposing to restore some semblance of good governance to the University of Cape Town, I immediately reached for my laptop and started writing an endorsement.
I published my article on my website, www.school-capture.com. It was also carried by The Daily Friend (a website run by the South African Institute of Race Relations) and James Myburgh’s Politicsweb as well as by Alec Hogg’s BizNews where it received just over 1,800 views.
I have no idea what impact my article had but, ultimately, our intrepid candidates triumphed, with David winning the fourth and final spot by a single vote. As pleased as I am by their election, I must emphasise that I do not wish to be critical of the other candidates. Indeed, the candidate who lost out to David by a single vote, Hugh Amoore, is a former registrar of the University of Cape Town and is widely regarded as having been one of the finest officials that the university has ever had. I am grateful that he continues to contribute to the university’s affairs.
It is also important not to overstate the impact of this victory. The University of Cape Town’s Council is made up of thirty members, of whom only four are elected by what is called Convocation (i.e. the alumni). I dug into the fine print of the university’s Institutional Rules[2] and discovered that the full composition of Council is as follows:
Having won the four alumni seats, the classical liberal / anti-Woke / good governance caucus now has a strong foothold in the University of Cape Town’s highest governance body. I am confident that we can add the Premier’s and the Mayor’s nominees to their ranks. Previous appointees by the Premier and Mayor have included the excellent Michael Cardo MP, Gareth van Onselen and Advocate Kessler Perumalsamy. That would take the caucus to six and gives rise to an intriguing question: where can we find another 10 votes and thus achieve a majority of 16 seats out of 30 on Council?
I suspect that a good place to look would be the academic and support staff nominees, of whom there are a total of six. Academics obviously have a reputation for being very Leftist but, as with the alumni, I believe that the looniest Wokes are actually a noisy but relatively small minority. I think that the silent majority of academic and support staff would gladly vote for anti-Woke candidates, if given the opportunity.
The way to win might be by focusing on the financial state of the university. The old adage “Go Woke, Go Broke!” applies in great force at the University of Cape Town. A decade of destruction and misgovernance – most notably during the catastrophic tenure of Dr Max Price – has caused the university’s finances to deteriorate. The university’s 2022 income statement indicates a small surplus for the year of R 80 million, but this masks the fact that student fees receivable continues to spiral out of control, with over R 310 million outstanding. This is up 23% from the prior year’s R 252 million,[3] and the university expects to write off an eye-watering 35% of this amount. In other words, a large amount of revenue is being booked but is not – and never will be – turned into cash.
A more realistic depiction of the university’s finances is presented in its cash flow statement, which indicates that the university suffered a staggering net cash outflow of R 223 million in 2022. And the future is not looking bright. According to Vincent Motholo, the university’s Chief Financial Officer, “the medium-term outlook period indicates significant deficits for the period 2023–2025.”[4] In his opinion, “sustaining our organisation without revisiting human resource planning, staffing models, or salary increments will prove exceedingly challenging.”[5]
Compare this to the situation that prevailed in 2014, the year before Dr Max Price rolled out the red carpet for Fallism. Back then, the university achieved a healthy surplus of R 675 million, whilst the cash flow statement showed net cash inflow of R 313 million. Student fees receivable was only R 58 million – one fifth of what it is today.[6]
Employees are already feeling the pinch. In February this year, administrative and support staff went on strike after another year of below-inflation salary increases.[7] Last year, 87% of academic staff voted to strike after they were offered a salary increase of just 3%.[8] Many staff are understandably incensed that the university could find over R 12 million for a golden handshake for the appalling former Vice Chancellor, Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng – just to pay her to go away.[9] Ultimately, the academics and the support staff will need to realise that their salary increases are not going to improve until the Woke ideologues who have run the University of Cape Town into the ground are removed from positions of authority.
The donor category, which has two seats, also looks favourable. Add all of that up and we are on 14 seats out of 30, assuming, of course, that we can replicate the success we had with the alumni and actually win the respective elections.
However, the other side of the ledger looks equally formidable. Firstly, there is the strange constituency of the “Appointments Committee,” which gets to appoint five individuals to Council. The Appointments Committee consists of:[10]
The Chairperson of Council.
The Chairperson of the trustees of the University of Cape Town Foundation.
A trustee of the University of Cape Town Foundation who is neither a staff member nor a student, chosen by the trustees.
A person who is neither a staff member nor a student, chosen by organised labour in NEDLAC.
The Vice Chancellor.
A dean chosen by the deans of the faculties from their number.
The president of the SRC.
And so there will be a battle within a battle for control of this committee within a committee. At first glance, this does not look like a battle that the anti-Wokes are likely to win. And, barring the unlikely circumstance in which the Democratic Alliance (DA) establishes some sort of short-term minority national government following the May election, propped up by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and Umkhonto weSizwe (MK), I think we can also safely write off the five Ministerial appointees.
Three seats on Council are held by the Vice Chancellor, the Deputy Vice Chancellor and the Chief Operating Officer. These officials are themselves appointed or effectively appointed by Council, so it seems to me that, at least in theory, these three seats provide a built-in advantage in favour of the incumbent regime. This probably takes the other side to 13 seats out of 30, versus our potential 14 seats.
It could well be that the students, with the final three seats, will hold the balance of power. If, by some miracle, a decent crowd wins an SRC election then the students’ three seats could take us over the line. But this is a big “if”, considering that last year the EFF won a landslide victory in the annual SRC election.
In any event, what we are left with is a fairly evenly constituted governing body. If you squint you can just about see our way clear to having a majority on the University of Cape Town’s Council, provided we get organised, fight hard - and have luck on our side.
Rebuilding a classically liberal university
This then raises an important question. If the classical liberal / anti-Woke / good governance caucus does manage to achieve a majority, what should they do with it? I don’t speak on behalf of any of the recently elected candidates and I certainly don’t expect that they will share all of my views. Nevertheless, I set out below my vision of what can and should be done to restore the University of Cape Town to being a well governed and classically liberal institution.
Firstly, there needs to be zero tolerance for violence, vandalism, harassment and other forms of criminality. Any of this behaviour must be met with prompt arrests with the university leadership pressing for prosecution and custodial jail sentences, without exception. Alongside criminal action, the university must also pursue civil action against offenders to recover damages and must also implement internal disciplinary proceedings so that offenders are removed from the institution. The era of self-described “activists” being at liberty to disrupt exams, petrol bomb buses, burn paintings in the parking lot and assault professors must be brought to a swift and decisive end.
Secondly, high standards of academic integrity need to be re-established. This means that students who commit plagiarism, who cheat in tests and exams or who submit fraudulent medical notes need to be expelled from the university. Due performance criteria must be uncompromisingly enforced. Students who attempt to intimidate or bully lecturers must be disciplined.
Thirdly, we need to restore high standards of financial discipline. Above all else, fees must be paid on time. I agree with Professor Brian Kantor’s view, recently expressed in Business Day, that ways must be found to reduce the university’s dependence on the national government for funding, not least because the university’s “large and increasing dependence on earmarked contributions from the central government” is not sustainable and poses a severe threat to academic freedom.[11] Extravagant and wasteful expenditure also needs to be curtailed. For example, the line item “Travel and related costs” grew from R 58 million in 2021 to R 185 million in 2022[12] – a three-fold increase in a single year – at a time when online conferencing technology has developed enormously, thus reducing the need for overseas travel.
Finally, freedom of speech needs to be re-established. The University of Cape Town can return to its core business of research and teaching only when people are truly free to engage in the pursuit of truth and the illumination of knowledge. Until then, it will remain little more than a Woke indoctrination camp dressed up as a prestigious university. The best way to prove the re-establishment of academic freedom would be for the university’s leadership to issue an apology to the previously-cancelled Danish journalist, Fleming Rose, and to extend a new invitation to him to speak at the university.
In addition to restoring basic standards of governance, we need to ensure that the university becomes a genuinely progressive environment in which opportunity is extended to the deserving and the poor. Assuming, of course, that the university’s financial health is improved, lack of financial means should not prohibit academically promising students – of any race – from being able to embark on an undergraduate degree. This will require the university to look beyond the racial identity of the affected individual and instead focus on the person’s unique circumstances, specifically his or her academic ability and financial means. In short, we need to stop measuring transformation by counting how many “black” students we have and rather focus on helping promising applicants – of any race – who come from underprivileged backgrounds.
A genuinely progressive environment of this kind can be achieved only if race is disregarded as a relevant criterion. Indeed, the core ideological priority of a reformed Council must be to deracialise the university in every possible respect. By this, I mean that the university should operate on a colour-blind and pro-poor basis. Governance documents that need to be redrafted to reflect this new ethos include, at the very least, the university’s admissions, scholarships, hiring, promotions, procurement and housing policies.
Next, there needs to be a public reckoning with the toxic ideology of Fallism. All of the art, iconography and statues which were removed, damaged or degraded over the past decade need to be restored to their original state on campus. This includes the statue of Rhodes. Institutional support for “decolonisation” initiatives must be terminated, in particular with respect to “decolonising” the curriculum. Fallism came to prominence because of the pervasiveness of Critical Race Theory in the humanities and law faculties. The quality of scholarship emanating from these faculties is long overdue for a review, alongside an examination of the funding methods for the relevant departments.
Coupled with pushing back against the principles of Critical Race Theory, we also need to firmly reject Critical Race Theory’s evil twin: Gender Ideology. The University of Cape Town must ensure that women’s bathrooms, women’s change rooms, women’s residences and women’s sports remain strictly reserved for biological females.
Finally, a full apology must be extended to the victims of Fallism. Above all, the university’s leadership must publicly and unequivocally acknowledge that Professor Bongani Mayosi was driven to his death as a direct result of Fallist bullying and must repudiate the false and revisionist claims that Dr Max Price has made in respect of Professor Mayosi’s death.
Once all of the above has been accomplished, the new leadership of the University of Cape Town should embark on a major initiative to rebuild relationships with the institution’s long-disillusioned donor base. I have no doubt that, with the correct reforms, the University of Cape Town will be able to re-establish productive partnerships with its impressive alumni and other parties.
If you are standing as a candidate for the University of Cape Town’s Council in any of the above-mentioned constituencies (such as academic staff, support staff, donors or students) and the above ideas resonate with you, please send an email to [email protected] and I will gladly write an article endorsing you.
Courage is contagious, and winning is a habit
I have long suspected that Fallism was driven by a self-referential group of Marxist agitators, a group that is small in number but highly concentrated in leadership positions at the University of Cape Town. I also suspected that Fallism never had any real democratic legitimacy – not amongst white nor black students and staff – and that the voices of aggressive bullies were vastly over-amplified by dangerous idiots in the media such as Eusebius McKaiser and Iqbal Surve.
The results of the alumni election validate these suspicions. It turns out that classical liberals are not outnumbered at the University of Cape Town and there is no need for us to be helpless victims of circumstance. We now need to replicate the alumni election results amongst donors, academic staff, support staff and students until we achieve a majority on Council.
Last week demonstrated that we can restore good governance to our institutions; that we can build a genuinely progressive future; that we can defeat School Capture. We can win – but only if we find the courage and the skill to fight for what we believe in.
And what better place to start than at the University of Cape Town? It was here that Fallism first showed its hideous face, and it is here that we must show the country and, indeed, the whole world, how to lay this monster to rest.
Onwards.
References
[1] https://uct.ac.za/administration-leadership/council/council-elections-2024/convocation
[2] https://uct.ac.za/sites/default/files/media/documents/UCT_Statute_2022.pdf
[3] https://uct.ac.za/sites/default/files/media/documents/uct_ac_za/48/afs2022.pdf
[4] https://www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2023-10-30-cfos-report
[5] https://www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2023-10-30-cfos-report
[6] https://uct.ac.za/sites/default/files/content_migration/uct_ac_za/48/files/afs2014.pdf
[10] Clause 45 of the University of Cape Town’s Institutional Statute, available at: https://uct.ac.za/sites/default/files/media/documents/UCT_Statute_2022.pdf
[12] https://uct.ac.za/sites/default/files/media/documents/uct_ac_za/48/afs2022.pdf
A statement from our chairman
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| Cyril Ramaphosa |
Recording good progress
2012 was a good year for MTN. The Group delivered to its customers through a more extensive and quality competitive offering, and to its shareholders through solid financial returns. To its numerous other stakeholders, MTN remained a reliable partner and contributor, championing positive change.
The Group increased headline earnings per share by 1,9% to 1 089,1 cents and declared a final dividend of 503 cents per share, up from 476 cents in 2011, bringing the total dividend to 824 cents per share.
As this is my last letter to you as chairman - I am retiring at the annual general meeting in May - I consider it an appropriate opportunity to share with you a few statistics to show just how much the Group has grown since 2001, the year I was first appointed to the board. Since then, MTN has grown its market capitalisation to more than R335 billion from R21.8 billion and subscriber numbers have increased to approximately 190 million from 3.9 million. In this time, the Group's cumulative capital expenditure has exceeded R171 billion and it has paid taxes, levies and licence fees of more than R129 billion.
It has indeed been an honour to be part of this homegrown African success story. MTN is a Group that has gained the admiration of several keen observers and indeed other operators throughout the telecoms world. MTN has recorded some extraordinary achievements and overcome considerable challenges to now call itself a leading emerging markets mobile operator in 22 countries across Africa and the Middle East, employing almost 27 000 people.
But now, back to 2012. Recognising the pace of change in the telecoms industry and the need to ensure increasing relevance, MTN management and the board of directors worked together in the year to hone the Group's mission, vision and strategy. The previous strategy had served us well, as we successfully entered markets where many others had feared to tread. We are now pursuing opportunities beyond merely providing voice services, and are focusing on evolving the Group's ICT offering.
In further elaboration of this, in his report for the year, the Group president and CEO spells out the changes being made to MTN's strategy to ensure the delivery of a bold, new Digital World to more and more people.
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Enhancing governance
The board, which is accountable for the governance and sustainable performance of the Group, is committed to good corporate governance and continues to make significant progress in this regard. In an environment of increasing regulatory and legislative compliance requirements, we regularly review the board's governance structures and processes. This is aimed at enhancing the board's effectiveness and ensuring that it is aligned with sound business practices.
In 2012, the board adopted more King lll recommendations as well as the latest JSE Listings Requirements and continued to implement changes required by the new Companies Act, including the establishment of a social and ethics committee. To keep up to date with changing legislation and governance principles, we reviewed and approved the board charter as well as the terms of reference of the board committees.
While the process to appoint directors has, in the past, been conducted in a formal and transparent manner, there has never been a formal policy in place. However, in 2012, the board adopted a policy on the appointment of directors and the Group secretary. We also appointed a new independent non-executive director - Fani Titi - with effect from 1 July 2012. With his extensive experience in a wide range of capacities, we know that Fani's contribution will be valuable and we welcome him.
Focusing on ethics
A major focus of the board in the year was on ethics, and strengthening our policies and procedures throughout MTN. The new social and ethics committee held its inaugural meeting in February 2012, and at this meeting and subsequent ones through the year it has been considering the Group's code of ethics. It also convened an ethics task team to review and further embed ethical values as well as ensure that employees practise ethical behaviour.
Key elements of the Group's ethics management process will be formerly introduced in the year ahead. It is fair to say that, like many other major corporations, MTN recognises that there is room for it to do more to enhance the ethics management process throughout the Group's 22 operations.
Closely linked to ethics is accountability, which the Group has identified in our culture change programme as one of four vital behaviours required for the organisation to successfully execute its revised strategy and remain sustainable.
As part of our commitment to ethics, human rights are fundamental in the culture of MTN. We are sensitive to concerns about human rights in relation to the implementation of interception capabilities. Protecting customer privacy is important to us and we work to prevent any illegal use or abuse of customer confidentiality. Throughout the industry worldwide, legal interception is a requirement of operating licences in many countries. This is the case in the majority of the countries in which we operate and in all countries where we operate there is legislation to enable law enforcement agents to obtain information.
Like all operators, MTN has no ability to control or manage how information obtained through legal means by relevant authorities is used. We continue to work proactively with other parties, including global operators and industry bodies, to find solutions to this issue, which were again discussed at the recent Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
Defending our record
Just as we were stepping up our ethics policy, systems and processes, allegations of breaches of ethical conduct were made against the Group. Having set out the allegations in January 2012, on 28 March 2012, Turkcell Iletisim Hitzmetleri AS (Turkcell) filed a legal action against MTN Group and MTN International (Mauritius) Pty Ltd in the United States District Court in Washington, DC.
Turkcell has alleged that MTN violated the US Alien Tort Statute by conspiring to oust Turkcell from the Irancell consortium by: bribing an Iranian official and a South African official; encouraging the South African government to support Iran's nuclear development programme at meetings of the International Atomic Energy Agency; promising to influence the South African government to provide military equipment to Iran; and bribing its Iranian partners through sham loan agreements. Turkcell has sought damages of $4.2 billion. On 2 July 2012, MTN moved to dismiss the case on the basis that it lacks legal merit. MTN expects the court will decide the motion in its favour later this year.
Given the seriousness of the allegations, the MTN board felt they merited an authoritative and independent investigation and on 1 February 2012, appointed a special committee to do just that. Lord Leonard Hoffmann, an international jurist of unquestionable legal authority and independence, was selected to chair the special committee. Following a year-long investigation, that involved a detailed review of the evidence, Lord Hoffmann determined that the allegations were without foundation. He concluded that he found nothing in the conduct of MTN over this period that put at question MTN's integrity or propriety.
The board was particularly pleased to note Lord Hoffmann's findings that the allegations against MTN's former Group president and CEO Phuthuma Nhleko and MTN's former commercial director Irene Charnley were false. Allegations of complicity against me, the chairman, and the Group president and CEO Sifiso Dabengwa were similarly found to be without substance. The board is grateful to Lord Hoffmann, and independent non-executive directors Peter Mageza and Jeff van Rooyen for their work, and the scope and detail of their conclusions.
This was a testing time for the Group, but we now have the opportunity to state our case firmly and clearly, and build for the future. MTN is one of Africa's great success stories - a great company founded on innovation, courage and values of honesty and ethical business dealings. I am proud of what we bring to the communities and markets in which we work, and what MTN does to improve lives. We can now put these events behind us, and move forward.
Remaining compliant with sanctions
MTN continues to work closely with all relevant authorities to manage US sanctions against Iran and Syria, and retains international legal advisers to assist the Group in remaining compliant with all applicable sanctions.
Overcoming challenges
Continuing to comply with sanctions constituted just one of the challenges we faced in 2012. Among others were the continued global economic malaise linked to the debt crisis in Europe, as well as political and social volatility in a number of MTN markets. Specifically, we had to contend with the crisis in Syria, troubles in northern Nigeria, labour unrest in South Africa, ongoing fighting in Afghanistan and the continuing standoff between Iran and the West, to name but a few.
Other challenges our operations face on a day-to-day basis are clearly spelled out in the president and CEO's report, but suffice to say that the safety of our people is paramount and we continue to implement various risk management strategies to mitigate safety and security risks.
Looking ahead and appreciation
As we embark on a new year, it is worth reminding ourselves of the strengths of MTN's investment case. Among these are our large subscriber base and solid brand; our robust balance sheet and significant network infrastructure; our strong sales and distribution network as well as our micro-billing capabilities.
Our proven track record of operating in challenging markets and our established internet service provider businesses are other important attributes. Crucially, the resilience and inventiveness of our people are key to our ability to rise up to the challenges ahead. I thank them for their continued dedication to the task at hand.
I would like to thank my fellow board members for their wise counsel over the years, as well as the executives of MTN for their dedication and hard work and for making me welcome at MTN. In my years as chairman, I have travelled to many MTN operations across Africa and the Middle East, and the positive MTN attitude is evident everywhere I go: I feel we are all part of the MTN family.
I would also like to thank MTN's many partners, shareholders and regulators in various jurisdictions who have worked alongside us in growing the Group to where it is today. On behalf of the board, I invite all shareholders to attend the Group's annual general meeting on 28 May 2013, not only to vote, but also to use this meeting as an opportunity to interact with the members of the board and the management team. I also encourage you to visit our company website where a wealth of information is available.
MTN is well positioned to continue to grow sustainably: increasing subscriber numbers and profitability and contributing to economic development. Telecoms is certainly the way of the future and we have a responsibility to all our stakeholders to operate in an ethical and sustainable way in continuing to generate returns to our shareholders.
I believe MTN is in good hands and that the appointment of my successor is progressing responsibly. I wish the Group, the board and all MTN employees the best for the future. I will be watching your progress with great interest and affection.
Cyril Ramaphosa
Chairman
28 March 2013
