South Africa
Letter to the Editor: UCT’s response to Andrew Ihsaan Gasnolar
In an opinion piece published earlier this week, Andrew Ihsaan Gasnolar referred to issues of transformation at UCT. In the interests of fairness and broader debate, here is the University’s response in full. By PATRICIA LUCAS.
The University of Cape Town shares the concerns of Andrew Ihsaan Gasnolar about the slow pace of transformation across South Africa (‘SA: Ready for the challenge of really facing the Other?’ 3 March 2015). His article implies that UCT has overlooked or ignored similar concerns expressed by Dr Siona O’Connell about the pace of transformation at the university.
In fact, the UCT executive has met both formally and informally with Dr O’Connell and other colleagues to discuss this matter. Readers also need to know that UCT has professional services in place to assist any staff member or student who is experiencing harassment in any form.
Dr O’Connell has made no official complaint to UCT about receiving hate mails in response to her article. The university has urged her to do so, to allow us to take immediate action on this matter.
Patricia Lucas,
UCT Communication and Marketing Department
Photo courtesy of Andrew Ihsaan Gasnolar
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