SOUTH AFRICA: University petitioned on freedom inroads

About 150 staff at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa have put their names to a petition calling on Education Minister Naledi Pandor to intervene in an long-running dispute over academic freedom, writes Sue Blaine in Business Day. The argument has pitted vice-chancellor Professor Malegapuru Makgoba against some of 4,000 staff members, of whom 1,960 are academics, and international academics.

Pandor said at the weekend she could informally meet Makgoba to discuss the issue and the negative publicity it was garnering for a university she described as one of South Africa's better-performing higher education institutions.

Last week's petition was also signed by about 60 academics from universities in South Africa and other countries, as well as alumni. They join 34 international academics from top universities around the world who last month signed a letter of protest addressed to Makgoba and council chairman Mac Mia. They warned that the incident could hinder research collaboration and staff programmes between that university and international institutions.

Although there have been rumblings about the status of academic freedom at the university for quite a long time, the issue reached a head a few months ago when the university's management instituted disciplinary action against two of its top academics who criticised Makgoba in the media.
Full report on the Business Day site