by Mfuneko Toyana | Mar 11, 2013 | Featured 1, News
Wits buildings like the newly opened Public Health building pictured above, have been undertaken through contracts with construction companies not implicated in the ‘hard-hat mafia’ scandal. Photo: Mfuneko Toyana
“Hard-hat mafia” is the sinister name being used to describe the group of powerful construction companies and executives currently under investigation for collusion and tender-fixing some of the country’s biggest infrastructure projects worth billions of rands.
Director of Wits’ Campus and Development Planning (CDP), Emannuel Prinsloo, told Wits Vuvuzela that none of the contractors employed by the University for recent projects has been linked to the scandal.
He said it was thanks to an “independent and thorough” procurement strategy that the university had been able to avoid falling victim to the over-pricing and tender fraud that has affected projects as large as the Mandela Bridge and a few 2010 World Cup stadiums.
Prinsloo explained that Wits differentiated between construction procurement and normal procurement, and relied on a team of industry experts to assess tenders for all its programmes on a project-by-project basis.
The team, made up of former National treasury employee Ron Mortimer, Sam le Roux from Wits’ School of Economics, a quantity surveyor and a project manager, rated bidding contractors and compiled a report for the tender committee which made a final decision based on these scores and a review of the entire procurement process.
Project manager Spencer Hodsten pointed out that CDP received clean audits from the Department of Higher Education for the past five years, and that last year spending on construction projects exceeded the budgeted amount by only 5%.
He attributed this to Wits’ policy of sourcing tender bids from a large pool of candidates and giving contractors enough information before-hand in-order to avoid inflated projections.
Affidavits given by construction firm Stefanutti to the Hawks in 2011, and leaked two weeks ago to the media, describe how executives of top construction firms would meet in secret to decide what big tenders should go to whom and at what price.
This price would include anything between 8 to 12 percent extra, between R100k and R5 million, of the true cost of the project. The extra money would then be paid to the firms who had agreed to “lose” the tender by the winning firm, in the form of fake invoices for services never actually rendered.
Whilst both gentlemen of the CDP agreed that this kind of boardroom corruption was the norm in the construction industry and posed a threat to economic growth, they also pointed out that “fast tracking projects without the proper planning was fast tracking those projects to disaster”.
by Mfuneko Toyana | Mar 11, 2013 | News, Sport
by Palesa Radebe and Mfuneko Toyana
THE Clever Boys scored a late goal to edge Maritzburg United 2-1 and move to 6th place in the PSL standings, on Wednesday night at Bidvest stadium.
With an impressive turn out from Bidvest supporters and a lively band keeping them excited, Maritzburg United did well to dominate the initial stages of the game. And their early initiative paid off when Mario Booysen scored for the away team from a well taken corner kick in the first 15th minute of the game.
Wits’ first goal attempt came from striker Ryan Chapman, who was thought to be offside but the linesman kept his flag down, only for him to miss a clear chance.
Wits’ Papi Faty also missed a chance to equalise the score when he headed the ball over the bar, following a good corner kick from Matthew Pattison.
Thirty-eight minutes into the game Asive Langwe equalised for Wits with a header after an accurate cross by Mzikayise Mashaba, to leave the scores level at half-time.
Wits came back in the second half determined to claim all three points, and could have taken the lead twice within the first ten minutes.
First Maritzburg goalkeeper Shoab Walters saved well from a close range shot by Chapman, and 5 minutes later Papi Faty’s shot from outside the box beat Walters but not the right-hand upright.
Wits continued to threaten United’s goal and the midfield combination of Matthew Pattison, Tenashe Nengomasha and captain Sibusiso Vilakazi kept Ernst Middendorp’s team on the back foot.
As a result the KZN team relied on the counter-attack, but centre-backs Langu Sweswe and Sandile Sibande comfortably foiled United’s efforts and Wits continued to hunt for a winner.
It finally came when Ryan Chapman turned a defender outside the box and sent a wonder strike into the roof of the Maritzburg net.
It was a well-deserved victory for Clive Barker’s charges and the fans that never stopped singing.
palesa@witsvuvuzela, mfuneko@witsvuvuzela
by Mfuneko Toyana | Mar 11, 2013 | News
Sexual Harassment Advisor at Wits’ Career Counselling and Development Unit (CCDU) says the university is doing all it can to deal with issues of sexual abuse on campus.
“We need to be more proactive,” Maria Wanyane admitted when questioned about the effectiveness of the university’s sexual harassment programmes.
Recent allegations of widespread sexual abuse of students by lecturers have rocked the university in the past week, and have put Wits’ ability to protect its students in the spotlight.
Wanyane explained that revisions to the Sexual Harassment Policy and Procedures document started last year were not a reaction to one specific incident, but part of the university’s overall revision of its social justice policies.
“We are trying to make changes to the whole system so that [each part] works together and effectively”, she said.
The latest draft of the policy was published on February 20 on the Wits website, (www.wits.ac.za).
In newspaper interviews and on Twitter, current and former students claimed that sexual harassment is the norm and not the exception, in more than one department at the university.
Wanyane did concede that because “sexual harassment is not part of the curriculum [they] had to fit it in where they could”, and this was not always possible because of busy teaching schedules.
“You don’t assume silence means there is no problem”, she said, and added that the university acted immediately where it determined danger was posed to a complainant, but that it was a challenge to investigate rumours that were not detailed or reported.
The current draft of the Policy and Procedures document states that, “[i]n the event that a complainant chooses not to follow a formal procedure, the employer should still assess the risk to other persons in the workplace”.
The document also sets out what the university defines as harassment, and also provides information on the steps staff and students need to follow if they feel they have been victims of harassment or abuse.
Wanyane said the revision of the policy was part of an awareness campaign that included workshops to educate the Wits community about sexual harassment and challenge people to “take a stand”.
“If I had the power I would have everyone trained by CCDU on how to deal with sexual harassment and the impact it has on their lives” Wanayne said.
mfuneko@witsvuvzela.com
by Mfuneko Toyana | Mar 5, 2013 | News
The story of senior Wits drama lecturer Tsepo wa Mamatu allegedly fondling and sexually harassing students, and even raping one of them, has focused many people’s attention on what constitutes as an improper relationship between a lecturer and a student.
On Twitter particularly, former students of the accomplished actor, director and playwright have spoken about how wa Mamatu allegedly used his position as lecturer to pressure students into sexual acts under the guise that it was for the benefit of their education.
Tweets from the account of former Wits student Mary Straub (@merrystrwberry) have been frequent and detail her experiences in the Drama department.
Yesterday a tweet from the account read: “We were told we are brilliant, but our unwillingness ‘to go all the way’ would cost us marks.”
In reply to Straub’s question as to whether sexual abuse at Wits had become institutionalized among lecturers, a tweet from journalist Katherine Child (@katthechild), read: “Yes, and a history of turning a blind eye. And re-hiring perpetrators students had spoken out about”.
Wits’ Head of Communications, Shirona Patel (@shirona37), defended the university’s efforts to protect students, saying in a tweet: “Wits is doing all it can- it never covers up these issues- need as much evidence as possible”.
In a speech he gave at the Wits Great Hall last year, Nobel Laureate and celebrated author, JM Coetzee urged more male students to become teachers, and said that “it will be good for society in general, particularly at this time in history when men who enjoy working with children are suddenly under so much suspicion.”
What the tweets have not answered, and a question Coetzee implies, is whether an emotional connection between teacher and student is possible in the times we live in, especially between male lecturer and female student?
Wa Mamatu, as a lecturer in a small department, had the opportunity to shape the development of his students on an individual basis, a type of impact rarely found in larger departments.
The close interaction between lecturers and students in smaller settings creates an ideal environment for highly focused monitoring of student development. It’s an environment that has the ability to remove the power imbalances between students and lecturers. It’s what could be called a professional intimacy, one where the teacher can positively influence the student. A beautiful paradox when done right, a shame when done wrong. But how are students ever to know when it’s wrong?
Like many others who misuse their power against students, wa Mamatu seems to have blurred the boundaries and used that intimacy for personal gain, turning what could have been a fruitful partnership into a show of power and dominance.
However, a stronger inter-student relationship between female students spanning generations, able to warn and protect each other from sex pests, seems to have emerged ‘organically’ on Twitter and is filtering onto campus as a result. Could this be social media’s answer to violent patriarchy?
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