UCT, Hlophe ally part ways

2009-06-22 11:38

Cape Town - Hlophe ally Paul Ngobeni and the University of Cape Town have parted ways following a university decision to abandon disciplinary charges against him.

Ngobeni was a deputy registrar at the university, and has been one of the most outspoken defenders of controversial Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe.

He also played an important role in the strategy that allowed President Jacob Zuma to beat corruption charges.

In a statement released on Monday, UCT vice-chancellor Max Price said the university last year instituted disciplinary proceedings against Ngobeni.

That culminated in an external tribunal which sat from September 2008 to May this year.

The disciplinary process was now concluded, he said, and he and Ngobeni had agreed on a joint statement.

Charges abandoned

The statement said UCT policy laid down that internal disciplinary matters were confidential, but that given the public interest in the matter "we take the unusual step of releasing this statement".

"The parties, having participated in the internal disciplinary process and having due regard to the complex nature of the matters that gave rise to the enquiry, have reached a mutual agreement to annul the disciplinary enquiry and abandon all charges brought against Dr Ngobeni," the joint statement said.

Price said he acknowledged the hardship the matter must have caused "the parties involved".

"I wish to apologise for any inconvenience caused, particularly to Dr Ngobeni," he said.

"Having satisfactorily resolved the matters, Dr Ngobeni has expressed his wish to leave UCT to pursue other interests and we wish him all the very best in his future endeavours."

‘Group of gangsters’

Ngobeni, a South African, went to the United States on a scholarship in 1982, and graduated with a law degree at the New York University School of Law in 1989. He went into private practice in Connecticut, but was suspended from the roll in 2005 and found guilty of seven counts of misconduct.

Ngobeni has recently claimed there is a racist "group of gangsters" in the UCT law faculty who are opposed to Hlophe and want to entrench the position of whites in the judiciary.

Hlophe is facing an inquiry by the Judicial Service Commission into a complaint that he tried to influence a Constitutional Court ruling to go in favor of Zuma.

- SAPA