By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The University of Cape Town’s (UCT) council has announced the appointment of Emeritus Professor Daya Reddy as interim vice-chancellor, effective from Tuesday.
Daya’s appointment comes after former vice-chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng agreed to an early retirement deal.
The decision to appoint Daya was made at a special council meeting last week following consultation with Senate, and after seeking the advice of the Institutional Forum.
Council chair Babalwa Ngonyama said the council was “pleased to announce the appointment of Emeritus Professor Daya Reddy as the interim vice-chancellor.
“Professor Reddy has spent almost his entire academic career at UCT. At his retirement in 2020 he held the South African Research Chair in Computational Mechanics. He enjoys considerable recognition nationally and internationally as a researcher and has received multiple awards in recognition of his scholarly work. He is the author or co-author of over 200 publications and has supervised over 70 doctoral and master’s students to graduation, said Ngonyama.
“Professor Reddy has served in various management and leadership positions at UCT: as a head of department, as dean of the Faculty of Science for seven years, and from 1999 to 2021 as director of the Centre for Research in Computational and Applied Mechanics.
“He served on three occasions as an acting deputy vice-chancellor, over these periods covering collectively a wide range of portfolios. He also served three terms on Council as a member elected by the Senate. Over and above his duties at UCT, he also has extensive governance and leadership experience nationally and internationally.”
Ngonyama concluded by saying,the university thanks Professor Reddy for availing himself for this role and we warmly welcome him back to UCT.
Meanwhile Phakeng has lashed out at the “opponents of change” who forced her ousting from the university’s vice-chancellorship, but insisted: “Anyone with half a brain would know that I’m leaving the university better than when I found it.”
Re-appointed to a second term by a resounding margin less than a year ago, Professor Phakeng took early retirement this month amid a long-running governance investigation, as-yet unresolved allegations of bullying, student protests and staff unrest over pay.
Mounting tumult at UCT led Professor Phakeng’s critics to question whether she was up to the job. But she said her departure was simply a sign that the minority who voted against her re-election – the “establishment and opponents of change” – had achieved their goal.