Black law academics outnumbered by whites

A snap Sunday Times survey of seven university law faculties has reportedly revealed that white professors and associate professors are still in the majority – and law faculties at the Universities of Cape Town (UCT) and the Western Cape (UWC) do not have any black South African professors or associate professors. The universities said the low number of black academics in law faculties was not for lack of trying, blaming a small talent pool and inability to offer competitive salaries. Several senior black academics who have been appointed are from other countries. This came to light after a group of UCT law students said their faculty had lost a number of brilliant emerging black academics. ‘Some ... made mention of how faculty politics involving mostly senior staff led to them feeling demoralised, unwelcome and in some instances, bullied,’ they said. ‘If it is a causal connection between the toxic culture of exclusion, which led to the demoralisation of the now absent black academics, and the current appointment of only white academics, the faculty must provide adequate explanation for this current situation.’ UCT described the contents of the letter as ‘grossly inaccurate’, says the Sunday Times report. According to figures from the faculty board, black academic staff had doubled from 14% in 2012 to 29% last year, but in law schools, white professors and associate professors still outnumber their counterparts from other races. Seven of the universities that responded have a total of 25 professors and associates from other countries.

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