Your article (UCT in race row over academic’s appointment, March 2) included two allegations by members of the Black Academic Caucus (BAC), but did not afford the University of Cape Town (UCT) an opportunity to respond prior to publication. The first was that the decision to appoint the deputy vice-chancellor: teaching and learning was based on "racism", and the second that Associate Prof Lis Lange "does not meet the requirements". While we were contacted for comment, these two claims were not put to the university for a response. On the claim that this was a racist appointment, the principle of selecting a black candidate over a white candidate using race as the criterion assumes that both candidates bring broadly the same expertise and are suitable for the post. This was not the case in this appointment. Only one candidate was considered appointable by the selection committee. The BAC’s argument also assumes that a white person cannot drive a transformation agenda. We reject this ...
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