DOCUMENTS

Why I am resigning - Professor Nithaya Chetty

Letter from the UKZN academic to friends and colleagues, November 26 2008

Letter by Professor Nithaya Chetty on his resignation from UKZN, November 26 2008

Dear UKZN Colleagues and friends from afar:

I have taken the advice of my attorney Mr Dunstan Farrell and my union representative Prof Alan Rycroft very seriously when they advised me to submit my letter of resignation from the UKZN today, which I have just done.

Mr Farrell advised me to be careful about my public statements on any matter related to my case during the remainder of my stay here at the UKZN, which I shall respect.

I have reached this point after what must be hundreds of phone conversations with many friends and colleagues, all concerned but each with their own view on how to proceed. In the end, my wife Anashree and I have had to make a decision that is best for ourselves personally.

I am delighted to say that I have an excellent opportunity for a physics academic position at a top South African university to start on 01 January 2009. However, I will very likely want to take a couple of months off to relax and to be with my loving wife who has been the rock against whom I have leaned so heavily. We will be separated for some months early next year whilst I get settled in my new job. This has taken a huge toll on ourselves and our loved ones closest to us.

I am grateful that a number of SA universities have rallied behind me, and that more job opportunities are emerging, thanks to the national and international outcry over this matter.

There are so many people to thank for their incredible support, within the university and well beyond. I am especially grateful to NTESU for their unstinting support, and for their financial contribution to my legal fees. Alan Rycroft has always been compassionate and deeply understanding and hugely insightful in helping us. My friend and colleague John van den Berg has been a tower of strength for me, and our families are forever intertwined because of our experiences over these past four months. I have enormous respect for John's courage and integrity, and I think now that John needs to be given the opportunity and the support to get back to his normal life in peace and quiet.

Jane Duncan and the FXI have been at the very forefront in supporting us and encouraging us through what has been a harsh experience. I am delighted with my invitation to the UCT to deliver the 2009 TB Davie Academic Freedom lecture. The Wits Academic Freedom Committee statement to the chair of Council was very meaningful for me, as have been the myriad of messages from so many esteemed local and international academics who expressed their dismay in so many distinct and creative ways.

Amongst the great many UKZN colleagues that stood up for us, there are about a dozen of you that went well beyond any expectation to help us.

You know who you are, and I'd rather not acknowledge your names publicly for obvious reasons.

The outpouring of public support was very special, and this buoyed us through the hard times. Both the Witness and the M&G have been fantastic in widening the discourse on the UKZN, and I thank both Ferial Haffejee and John Conningham for creating the space for their watchful eyes on the situation here.

This matter has always been well beyond simply 'saving John and Nithaya' ... now that will make a nice bumper sticker! I hope that all this creative energy will continue to be directed toward a more public discourse on  'What is the nature of the university'?. I think that the open dissenting space that emerged because of our case should continue to be nurtured through discourse on the roles and responsibilities of academics in a free and democratic society. Maybe if we all donned our academic gowns more often we will be reminded about our public obligations that come with our academic vocation, however risky that may be?

Never again should a colleague at the UKZN - or anyway else for that matter - be put into a position where he or she is forced to say *In fact, I am not sure anymore what I can say and what I cannot say that will or will not incriminate myself.* This is the challenge for each one of you as I see it and as I depart from here.

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Sincerely and with best wishes,

Nithaya

Source: The Change at UKZN website