DA ready for legal action against illegal secrecy by Stellenbosch University
10 May 2020
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is disappointed that Stellenbosch University (SU) is hiding information of critical public importance from public view.
This follows the refusal by the SU’s management, led by rector Wim de Villiers, to publicly share the content of interviews, correspondence and other evidence that was used to exonerate De Villiers from allegations that he had improper contact with retired judge Edwin Cameron during the Constitutional Court case about the elimination of Afrikaans as a primary language of instruction at Stellenbosch.
This development follows a request filed to the university on 9 March by Dr Leon Schreiber MP, an SU-alumnus and the DA’s constituency head for Stellenbosch, under the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA).
In the PAIA request, Dr Schreiber requested to be granted access to all interviews, correspondence and other evidence that was considered in the decision to exonerate De Villiers during an internal investigation. However, on 7 April, the registrar of the university, Dr Ronel Retief, bluntly refused the PAIA request, with the implication being that the public is not allowed to see the evidence against De Villiers.