UNIVERSITY of KwaZulu-Natal’s (UKZN) Forensic Services Department has been working with law enforcement agencies on its investigation into a syndicate responsible for selling admission spaces at the university’s medical school.
UKZN Vice-chancellor, Albert van Jaarsveld, said forensic services and the police had been working tirelessly to identify accomplices and beneficiaries of these illegal acts, and anticipated that further arrests would be made soon. He said anyone found to have participated in, or benefited from, this illegal practice would face criminal prosecution.
Van Jaarsveld said the University Executive Management had prioritised the matter and was fully supportive of the investigation.
“University Management initiated this investigation and has been cooperating fully with the investigation to ensure that all those persons implicated face the full might of the law.”
“We should also be mindful that expecting the Hawks to take action without a thorough investigation will jeopardise the process, and premature interventions may compromise all the progress that has been made thus far. The University is engaging with the Hawks on an ongoing basis to facilitate their work proceeding as fast as possible. We, therefore, appeal to all our stakeholders to remain calm and allow the process to unfold. Let’s allow the process to take its course,” he said.
Van Jaarsveld said acts of fraud, bribery and other corrupt behaviour would not be tolerated at the university in any way or form, and offenders would be prosecuted and pursued to the full extent of the law.
“I remind the university community that acts of fraud, bribery and corruption divert scarce resources away from the university’s core operations and threaten not only the university’s reputation, but also the integrity of our selection and admission processes.”
“For us to remain successful, it is imperative that the university community remains committed to protecting and ensuring the integrity and reputation of all qualifications awarded through our institution,” he said.
He said the Executive was also deeply concerned about the Medical School’s reputation, and the negative effect that any corruption of Medical School selection and admission processes would have on this reputation.
He said additional checks and balances in the university’s selection and admission processes led to detection of specific corrupt practices, which were then referred to the Hawks for further investigation, and the university was continually improving its procedures and practice to reduce risks.
“We are committed to rooting out all corruption at the University and require the assistance of staff and students to contact the University Fraud Hotline with information,” he said.
Report corruption on the toll free number 0800 20 32 85. All reports will be treated anonymously and in the strictest of confidence.
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