In the media

The Economic Freedom Fighters Youth Command in South Africa opened a criminal case against individuals accused of running a syndicate that sells university and TVET college placements. A spokesperson claims that students were charged between R3,000 and R4,000 for admission, accommodation and bursaries, facilitated through WhatsApp groups and apparent internal contacts. Various institutions across South Africa are alleged to be involved in the actions. Evidence submitted to police includes messages, payment records and testimonies from victims.

This article exposes corrupt practices in South Africa’s education system, particularly the misuse of social grants to gain university admission. Students with strong academic records are often denied entry to top universities, while others secure placements by using their grants to bribe university staff. This issue underscores the urgent need for reform and stricter oversight of grant distribution to ensure fairness and merit-based admissions.

A school in South Africa is facing allegations of corruption, with parents protesting outside the premises over claims of being asked to pay bribes to secure placements for their children. They have accused school officials of exploiting their desperation and are demanding a meeting with the Department of Basic Education to address their grievances. The situation escalated further when parents discovered that some children were being assigned to schools that have yet to be built.

The University of South Africa (UNISA) underwent a quality audit by the Council on Higher Education (CHE), which raised concerns about ambiguous roles between the Senate and Council, potentially infringing on academic authority. The audit highlighted governance issues, late registrations impacting student success, and communication gaps with students. UNISA has submitted an improvement plan to address these concerns and awaits feedback from the CHE.

The Inter-University Council for East Africa and member states from the East African Community need to address the issue of poor quality of education in private universities operating without minimum requirements. Members of the East African Legislative Assembly are concerned about those “quack universities” where students are tricked into enrolling but later fail to graduate after the universities have closed. This is the case of Kampala University, which opened a branch in Juba but closed without informing students, leaving them stranded.

As the University of KwaZulu-Natal medical school’s places for sale saga develops, more information has emerged regarding the alleged syndicate’s national links to other universities. The Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University (SMU) said this week that they were following up on the observations from the UKZN investigation, implicating certain individuals associated with SMU. SMU’s investigation follows the arrests in Durban of three individuals alleged to have been selling places to study medicine and other health science courses at UKZ for a fee of up to R500 000.