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SIU, Fort Hare University remain tight-lipped on ongoing qualifications investigation

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The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and the University of Fort Hare say it is too premature to release any information regarding the ongoing investigations into the institution’s awarding of qualifications.

This follows media reports that the newly sworn-in Public Service and Administration Minister Noxolo Kiviet is among those that SIU is investigated for allegedly fraudulently obtaining her Masters’s degree in Public Administration without a junior degree.

Kiviet, who is also a former premier in the Eastern Cape, is among the fifteen names that have been reported to SIU. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has called for the immediate resignation of Minister Kiviet. The organisation says the reports give credence to the claims by the University of Fort Hare Vice-Chancellor Sakhele Buhlungu, who, after an assassination attempt on his life revealed that 15 high-ranking politicians implicated in the fraudulent awarding of post-graduate qualifications have been reported to the SIU.

In a written response, the University of Fort Hare says it is prohibited by the Protection Of Personal Information Act (POPIA) to disclose any personal information of any of its current or past students.

It adds that all matters to do with the admission of public officials into programmes by the University’s Department of Public Administration and the awarding of these qualifications are ongoing and progressing well, following a Presidential proclamation directing the SIU to prioritise the investigations.

The institution has referred media inquiries relating to this investigation to the SIU.

Meanwhile, the SIU says it will only comment once the investigations are concluded.

SIU Spokesperson investigates corruption at Fort Hare University:

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