SOUTH AFRICA: Professor Norma Reid Birley, the Irish-born academic at the centre of row in South Africa, was packing her bags yesterday, having resigned unexpectedly as the vice-chancellor of the University of the Witwatersrand after vowing to resist pressure on her to stand down.
Her resignation came at the end of the first phase of a formal inquiry in her performance as vice-chancellor when the university council chairman, Edwin Cameron, decided that it was "necessary and inevitable" to recommend that formal disciplinary action be taken against her "on the grounds of misconduct".
There was no hint of the misconduct that she was accused of. But Professor Reid's sudden resignation, and her acceptance of a settlement considerably inferior to the package offered to her a fortnight ago, signalled that the balance of power had swung decisively against her during the first phase of the now abandoned inquiry.
Tom Lodge, professor of political studies and one of the few members of staff prepared to comment, said that she would receive about 600,000 rand (€65,000).