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The University of Cape Town (UCT) is conducting an urgent investigation following Breitbart News’s revelation that the institution’s private donations have experienced a dramatic two-thirds decline after implementing its boycott against Israel.
During a recent council meeting on Saturday, UCT deliberated on potentially withdrawing its previous boycott resolutions. During the discussions, a participant highlighted the severe financial implications, noting that the university’s individual donor funding had plummeted from 77 million to 28 million Rand in the past year.
“We need every cent that we can get. No amount of donor funding is ever going to replace what we have lost from USAID, from the federal government, from NIH [U.S. National Institutes of Health]. We need every cent that we can get. The VC’s [vice-chancellor’s] reports reflects a catastrophic and significant drop in individual donor funding in the last year, dropping 50 million Rand, from 77 million to 28 million. That’s in the VC’s report. We are chasing away money at the very time that we need it. The damage that we are doing, some insist can’t be avoided, but some of it is self-inflicted.”
The UNIVERSITY of CAPE TOWN in SOUTH AFRICA SENATE🇿🇦 have voted on two motions in favor of an Academic boycott of Israel.
The UCT PSF Chairperson made the announcement this afternoon and have dedicated it to the axis of Resistance in Iran, Palestine and Yemen.
🇵🇸🇮🇷🇾🇪#HumanRights pic.twitter.com/tmd2sPdYWs— Cape headlines News SA 🇿🇦 Cape Town (@CapeTownPress) April 19, 2024
The council was also made aware that the funding shortfall would necessitate the elimination of hundreds of academic positions.
Despite the financial ramifications, the council narrowly voted to maintain its stance against Israeli institutions. The decision came down to a close margin, with 14 members supporting the continuation of the boycott, while 13 voted for its reversal.
In the aftermath of these developments, the institution’s Acting Registrar, Prof. Kathy Idensohn, has initiated a formal investigation, requiring all council members to provide sworn statements denying any involvement in information leaks.
UCT’s funding tanked after their anti-Israel boycott—down two-thirds, a $10 MILLION punch to the gut—and they’re still doubling down on this trainwreck, so foolish. @joelpollak has torn into their clueless ideology, and South Africans are DONE with it. UCT is a clown show! I… https://t.co/wsNuBCHK0F
— Oubaas (@theresnostress) March 18, 2025
Breitbart News challenged the university’s stance on transparency by submitting four questions to UCT’s media office. These inquiries focused on the investigation’s compatibility with transparency principles, the public’s right to know about the boycott’s financial impact given UCT’s receipt of public funds, U.S. taxpayers’ interest in UCT’s financial status, and the justification for continued U.S. funding considering both American administrations’ opposition to Israeli academic boycotts and the Trump administration’s withdrawal of grants from institutions tolerating antisemitism.
