UKZN cracks down after syndicate selling spots at medical school uncovered

28 May 2017 - 18:41 By Matthew Savides
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The University of KwaZulu-Natal said on Sunday it was determined to identify students who had bought their way into the institution.

This comes after the recent arrests of three people who headed a syndicate selling admission to the university's medical school.

"The university’s forensic services and the Hawks have been working tirelessly to identify accomplices and beneficiaries of these illegal acts.

It is anticipated that further arrests will be made soon. Any persons found to have participated and/or benefited from this illegal practice will face criminal prosecution‚" said vice-chancellor Albert van Jaarsveld.

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 He said UKZN was in constant contact with police. He asked for all university stakeholders "to remain calm and allow the process to unfold".

"Let’s allow the process to take its course‚" he said.

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Van Jaarsveld said the university's executive was concerned about the impact of the scandal on its reputation.

"Additional checks and balances in our selection and admission processes led to detection of specific corrupt practices‚ which were then referred to the Hawks for further investigation‚ and we are continually improving our procedures and practice to reduce risks‚" he said.

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The university had opened an anonymous hotline for anyone to report corruption.

"We are committed to rooting out all corruption at the university and require the assistance of the public to contact the university fraud Hhotline on the toll free number 0800 20 32 85. All reports will be treated anonymously and in the strictest of confidence‚" said Van Jaarsveld.

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