Hard look: Prof Martin Hall and VC Dr Max Price at last week's meeting with the ministerial committee.

The ministerial committee on discrimination in higher education, set up by Minister of Education Naledi Pandor in the wake of the video row at the University of the Free State, stopped at UCT last week.

Over the visit on 15 July, the committee, led by UCT's Dr Crain Soudien, met separately with three UCT constituencies - the university executive and members of Council, student leaders and house committee representatives, as well staff representatives.

Professor Martin Hall, deputy vice-chancellor responsible for transformation, had prepared a document for the committee chronicling UCT's transformation initiatives. In their meetings, the committee posed some hard questions. Including why UCT is, to all appearances, failing to hold on to black, especially African, staff.

"As someone still very new to UCT, the visit gave me a chance to see how 'other outsiders' view transformation at UCT, as compared to the insider's view I enjoyed at the Khuluma workshop recently," said Vice-Chancellor Dr Max Price. "It's obvious that there are some big questions we have to answer, and a lot of hard work we still have ahead of us.

"To some extent, it is precisely because we are identifying the problem that we appear, both internally and externally, as having a long way to go. I strongly urge all UCT staff to sign up for a Khuluma workshop. It is really a worthwhile experience".