UCT is on a slippery slope to censoring its own academics and must retract its ill-considered reaction to Professor Nattrass' research paper
7 June 2020
The Democratic Alliance (DA) calls on the University of Cape Town (UCT) to retract its ill-considered reaction to Professor Nicoli Nattrass' research paper "Why are black South African students less likely to consider studying biological sciences?".
The statement, and the claim by Professor Nattrass that the University actually tried to prevent publication of the paper, are both indications that the University is prepared to ignore the Constitution and, particularly, the Bill of Rights and that it has clearly entered into the business of censorship.
After works of art were burned by students, and then censored by the University during the Fees Must Fall protests at UCT, we might have been forgiven for thinking that these were aberrations on the part of the University in extremely troubled times.
But now we find that the management of UCT, prompted by a pressure group on campus, is entering into the details of academic research papers, and what they do or don’t say, their methodology and their research questions.