The news that Saki Macozoma could replace Edwin Cameron as Wits University chairman saddens me.

The news that Saki Macozoma could replace Edwin Cameron as Wits University chairman saddens me.

Cameron is a man of integrity, skill and profound knowledge and has succeeded in advancing Wits as a reputable academic institution worldwide. However, he has failed to ensure that Wits fulfils its mandate on transformation. He has also been accused of stifling, if not overlooking, transformation.

That black students get the same treatment as their white counterparts is unimportant to the institution or research into why many black graduates and or drop-outs abhor conditions there would have been undertaken. Ironically, the management of Wits is fully aware of this phenomenon because it was acknowledged by its vice chancellor, Loyiso Nongxa, at the transformation summit organised by the SRC last year.

The institution, like many other organisations in the country, believes that transformation can be simplified through conversions - that is replacing blacks with whites. This narrow application of transformation is disastrous.

Will Macozoma bring change to Wits? I have serious doubts. He was part of management that judged students on the National Student Financial Aid Scheme. Macozoma is a reputable businessman, but his blackness does not mean that he qualifies for the position of chairman.

Transformation of former white universities is a very complex endeavour that needs a strategic thinker, perhaps someone like Blade Nzimande.

When one evaluates Macozoma from his interview with Denis Davis on Judge for Yourself,he failed to offer a logical explanation as to why transformation fails to trickle down to the poor.

I certainly do not believe that Macozoma qualifies for the post.

Phillimon Mnisi, Johannesburg