Retired president of the Supreme Court of Appeal Lex Mpati has been asked to head up an independent probe at the University of Cape Town (UCT) to look into allegations of gross misconduct by vice-chancellor Mamokgethi Phakeng and council chairperson Babalwa Ngonyama.

News24 understands Mpati is expected to chair the probe, alongside retired Constitutional Court Judge Sisi Khampepe and retired Supreme Court Judge Azhar Cachalia.

Governance expert Dr Trish Hanekom and Wits head of transformation Dr Bernadette Johnson have also been asked to join the panel.

Khampepe finalised her report into allegations of institutional racism at Stellenbosch University on Tuesday. 

It took the UCT council nearly two days after a special sitting was convened on Monday night to issue a statement confirming it had approved a panel of five members and a chair.

The statement was issued under the name of Artscape CEO Marlene Le Roux, who chaired the council sitting after Tshidi Mokgabudi chaired the meeting until just after 22:00 on Monday.

Mokgabudi requested that council members should not proceed further given that the meeting had gone beyond five hours into the night, and beyond the scheduled time. She requested that it be adjourned to continue the next day.

The meeting had been scheduled to take place from 17:00 to 21:00.

However, while a small number said they would prefer the meeting to be adjourned, council members voted in favour to continue.

As the meeting continued to be quorate, Le Roux was elected, and the meeting continued.

Le Roux said the council took two substantive decisions.

"Firstly, it approved terms of reference for an investigation panel to give effect to the 15 October 2022 council resolution to constitute such a panel. Secondly, it approved a panel of five members and a panel chair," she said.

Le Roux said the details would be communicated once the panellists have confirmed acceptance of their appointment.

"The meeting was adjourned just after 01:00 on 8 November 2022, with a resolution to reconvene within seven days to deal with the remaining agenda items," she added.

During the council sitting, two council members resigned, and deputy council chair Pheladi Gwangwa withdrew in protest against an impending motion of no confidence in her.

This comes after a legal opinion commissioned by UCT found Gwangwa was conflicted in handling the appointment of an independent panel.

Last month the UCT council decided that a retired judge and an independent panel of four experts would determine whether Phakeng was guilty of misconduct.

At the heart of the probe was whether Phakeng and Ngonyama misled the university's executive and senate about the reasons for the departure of the deputy vice-chancellor for teaching and learning, Associate Professor Lis Lange.

After his retirement, Mpati chaired the commission into the dealings of the Public Investment Corporation. His report was released in 2019.