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.

The DA’s PAIA request is to examine evidence that was decisive in the university’s administrative decision to exonerate De Villiers in spite of allegations in the public domain that De Villiers and Cameron had ongoing personal contact – including at least one secret in-person meeting – while De Villiers was the first respondent in the Constitutional Court case about the use of Afrikaans at Maties.

Cameron was elected as SU chancellor while the court case was still ongoing, and later delivered the judgement that effectively killed Afrikaans tuition at the SU.

If the university had confidence in its decision to exonerate De Villiers, why is it hiding the evidence?

Transparency is a central part of academic freedom. It is also vital to good corporate governance. Members of the Maties community, as well as the broader Afrikaans-speaking public, have a right to see the evidence according to which the university decided to exonerate De Villiers from allegations that he acted improperly during the court case about Afrikaans.

The DA will not allow De Villiers and his management to get away with this kind of behaviour. That is why we have already obtained legal advice, and why we will not hesitate to challenge the SU’s decision in court. The DA has also already written to the ombudsperson of the SU to appeal against the PAIA decision. We have requested the ombudsperson to make a recommendation that the university must comply with the PAIA request by Monday, 11 May.

If this illegal decision is not immediately overturned, the DA will use the court to force De Villiers and the SU’s management to play open cards with the public.

Issued by Leon Schreiber,DA Constituency Head: Stellenbosch, 10 May 2020