If they were all fishing in the same pond, perhaps there'd be greater cause for alarm, but it's unlikely that UCT, NMMU, Fort Hare and UniVen are all going to be short-listing and squabbling over the same applicants, given the rather different contexts and priorities.
And while the students have been rather exercised about the process of anointing the next VC to the throne, many staff have been rather less concerned about whose smiling face appears on the brochures and more concerned about Who Is To Be The Next Martin West - a post with rather more impact on the daily lives of those who sell their labour here.
"I don't really mind who we buy all those air-miles for," shrugged one staff member, "as long as he or she pays his carbon debt by buying enough Eco serfs to plant enough trees at Glenara to offfset it."
Of 23 positions, two were currently vacant. Of the 21 incumbents:
By nationality:
- All are South African.
- 3 from Sociology
- 3 from Theology
- 2 from Education
- 2 from Mathematics
- 1 each from Literature, Parasitology, Pharmacy, Stats, Health Sciences, Engineering, Immunology, Oceanography, Biochem, Economics and Pub Admin.
- 4 are white (the Engineer, the Statistician, the Economist and one of the Theologians) and the balance black.
- 3 are women (from Health Sciences, Oceanography and Education) - all of whom are black.
- 2 of the white men are not Professors (the Statistician and the white Theologian)
- all of the black men, and all of the women, are Professors.
- nothing is disclosed.