The Democratic Alliance has called for the suspension of two top Stellenbosch University (SU) officials following suspicions that they ‘doctored’ a report on the issues at the university’s Wilgenhof Residence.
The calls come when SU Chancellor Justice Edwin Cameron stated that Professor Wim de Villiers, University Rector and Vice Chancellor, and Doctor Nicky Newton-King, Chairperson of Council, conspired to modify the findings of an independent investigation into alleged wrongdoing at the house.
Cameron has since filed an affidavit as part of the ongoing Wilgenhof case, claiming that De Villiers and Newton-King fraudulently conspired to change the content of an independent investigative report into alleged misdeeds at the Wilgenhof men’s residence, and withheld information about the changes from the university council when it made a decision on how to proceed.
The DA’s Willie Aucamp stated that council supported a recommendation to close the residence based on the tampered report, despite the fact that the original version of the report recommended a “campus dialogue” to engender “deep and lasting changes” to address problems at Wilgenhof as a “appealing” alternative to closure.
However, the final version of the report provided to council was allegedly modified at the request of De Villiers and Newton-King to mislead decision-makers by deleting the option to compel the residence’s closure.
According to Cameron’s affidavit, it is “indisputable” that the Wilgenhof report was fundamentally altered at the request of De Villiers and Newton-King.
“It is further alleged that De Villiers refused Cameron’s request to issue a statement acknowledging that the report was changed at his instruction, and to apologise for the error,” Aucamp advised.
He said that any attempt to avoid accountability in this situation will harm not just the institution’s reputation, but also the trust of students, parents, and faculty who rely on university leadership to act with honesty, integrity, and transparency.
