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Update on Admissions Policy and the Rector’s Discretionary Placement

Update on Admissions Policy and the Rector’s Discretionary Placement

Stellenbosch University / Universiteit Stellenbosch
03 May 2023

The Council of Stellenbosch University has appointed a three-member committee to investigate allegations of nepotism and a possible breach of rules related to the Rector’s Discretionary Placements arising from placements of relatives of the Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Wim de Villiers. Retired Justice Carole Lewis will Chair the Committee and will be joined by Council members Helena Conradie and Ziyanda Stuurman.  Justice Lewis was previously Dean of the Faculty of Law at Wits University and a judge of the Johannesburg High Court. She retired from the Supreme Court of Appeal in 2019 after nearly 17 years. Conradie, a Chartered Financial Analyst charter holder, was elected to Council earlier this year by donors, and Stuurman, a public policy, policing, and security analyst, has served on the Council as an appointee of the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology since 2017. “The Committee will start work in mid-May and submit its full written report with findings and recommendations, if any, to the Council as a matter of urgency. Once Council has this report, it will evaluate the recommendations and consider the motion tabled by Dr Leon Schreiber,” said Dr Nicky Newton-King, Chair of the Stellenbosch University Council. Click here for a copy of the Committee’s Terms of Reference.​