Overview
Welcome to the UCT Office of the Ombud
The Office of the Ombud was established in January 2011 to provide the UCT community with a confidential, informal and independent resource to help raise concerns, resolve disputes and promote equitable treatment within the university. As such, this facility is intended to enhance the general wellbeing of the UCT community.
All members of the UCT community can visit the office of the Ombud. This includes staff (PASS and academic), students (current and alumni, as well as visitors and contractors.
Where does the term Ombud come from?
The word "Ombudsman" dates back to 1809 when the Swedish parliament instituted a new position in the civil service known as the Justice Ombudsman. This referred to a public official appointed to investigate citizens’ complaints against government agencies. In Swedish it means "citizens' defender" or "a representative of the people." It is a gender-neutral designation and either Ombud or Ombudsperson is considered an acceptable derivative of the term.
Zetu Makamandela-Mguqulwa
Zetu Makamandela-Mguqulwa is the Ombud at UCT. In this position, Makamandela-Mguqulwa is an advocate for fairness, acting as a source of information and referral, and assisting in the resolution of concerns and critical situations. She is available to receive and attempt to resolve the individual complaints and grievances of members of the UCT community; and to recommend procedural changes within the university in response to experience acquired in dealing with individual cases.
Before taking office at UCT on 1 January 2011, Makamandela-Mguqulwa was a Change Management Specialist at PetroSA - the oil company created through the merger of Mossgas, Soekor and the Strategic Fuel Fund. Since 2007 she led projects and influenced policies to help unite the workforce from these three companies into a single entity. She also provided counsel on transformation and change at all levels, including the executive level of PetroSA.
Makamandela-Mguqulwa earned a Bachelor of Social Sciences (Hons) and a Masters in Social Sciences at UCT and she served as Transformation Co-ordinator at the Faculty of Health Sciences between 2003 and 2006. In this capacity she also acted as Ombud for staff and students.
She also has experience in managing cultural diversity, counselling and team leadership at Intech, where she was a Distant Learning Guide and Lecturer. She was the Founder and Principal Consultant at Mindshift, where she led interventions and activities to help organisations such as BP-SA and Cape Peninsula University of Technology to bring their respective staff members through times of cultural change.
Contact
Physical address:
Old Staff Cottages
Lovers Walk
Lower Campus (directly opposite the School of Dance)
Rondebosch
Zetu Makamandela-Mguqulwa
Tel: 021 650 4805
Link
Monday Paper article
14 March 2011
