The University of Cape Town’s former dean of law‚ Professor Penny Andrews‚ has denied allegations, which surfaced on Twitter, of irregular expenditure‚ saying they were ‘false and defamatory’. Andrews‚ who has resigned‚ became dean in 2016 after several years abroad‚ and was the first black academic to hold the position, notes a TimesLIVE report.

An account called UCT Law Leaks – which appears to have been set up only to leak the documents‚ and was quickly deleted – went public last week with faculty financial statements from 2017.

According to the documents it shared‚ budget and expenditure amounts differed vastly on several fronts‚ including overseas trips‚ functions and staff allowances. At the same time‚ there was under-spending on student bursaries and textbooks during a period of ‘austerity’.

However, Andrews reportedly told TimesLIVE that ‘all invoices and payments’ had gone through a ‘series of signatures’ and she had acted with ‘integrity and transparency’ in all financial and other dealings. She said: ‘It is my opinion that no prior dean (I am the first black dean at UCT Law) has been subjected to this level of vilification and mistrust‚ and I am being punished for shedding light on several issues that have made some in the law faculty uncomfortable.’

She said the issues about which she had been outspoken included transformation‚ race and student leadership.

UCT denied the allegations that funds had been mismanaged‚ saying ‘the overall financial position of the faculty is sound and stable’.

Spokesperson Elijah Mohola said: ‘The allegations in the posts of financial misconduct by Professor Andrews in relation to her business travel‚ in particular‚ are denied.’

Full TimesLIVE report