Not personal, Cosatu tells UWC chair

Cape Town - 130222 - During a press conference at Community House in Saltriver, COSATU General Secretary, Tony Ehrenreich, warned of further protest action if farmers fail to implement the new minimum wage of R105 per day by March. REPORTER: WARDA MEYER. PICTURE: CANDICE CHAPLIN.

Cape Town - 130222 - During a press conference at Community House in Saltriver, COSATU General Secretary, Tony Ehrenreich, warned of further protest action if farmers fail to implement the new minimum wage of R105 per day by March. REPORTER: WARDA MEYER. PICTURE: CANDICE CHAPLIN.

Published Jun 5, 2014

Share

Cape Town - A call for University of the Western Cape council chairman Brian Williams to be removed is not a personal attack, Cosatu said on Thursday.

“The allegations that I have a personal vendetta against Brian are untrue,” Congress of SA Trade Unions' Western Cape general secretary Tony Ehrenreich said in a statement.

Ehrenreich, who made the original call, said he had a “good relationship” with Williams, as he did with other organisations' leaders.

“But this does not mean that I think that they are suitable for senior leadership of a university. This is a sentiment that I expressed very publicly.”

Earlier on Thursday, university groups, including the UWC convocation and various student organisations, voiced their support for Williams. They told reporters in Cape Town he had played a “progressive role”.

Ehrenreich recently said Williams was “disruptive and unsuitable” and asked university graduates and workers not to re-elect him when they voted for council leadership at the convocation's annual general meeting on Sunday.

Williams returned to work last month after having been removed as chair by the council during a special sitting in September.

After approaching the courts, the Western Cape High Court ruled last month that the sitting at which Williams was removed was not lawful and that he had to be reinstated.

The other candidates up for election are Brian Figaji, Martin Hendricks, Western Cape High Court Judge Nathan Erasmus, and Scholastica Ntoyanto.

Sapa

Related Topics: