Johannesburg - Economist Chris Hart has come under scrutiny in recent days after a post he made on Twitter was deemed to be racist.
Apart from being suspended by Standard Bank, the economist has had his credentials questioned on social media.
However, IOL can now confirm he has a Higher Diploma in Education (Physical Science), which he qualified with in 1985, as well as a BCom (general), which he achieved in 1997.
Both qualifications are from the University of the Witwatersrand.
According to reports from DRUM, Hart has no economics degree from Wits University, and only obtained a Bachelor of Commerce in 1996. He reportedly majored in taxation.
His academic transcript, which has been leaked to DRUM, shows that he was academically excluded from the Bachelor of Science degree course in 1983 after failing most of his course several times. According to DRUM he left Wits in 1985 with a Higher Diploma in Education.
Hart, who is not able to comment because of a pending disciplinary hearing, caused a ruckus on Sunday when he tweeted: “More than 25 years after Apartheid ended, the victims are increasing along with a sense of entitlement and hatred towards minorities…”
While the exact meaning of this apparent outburst is not clear, Hart later apologised, saying: “This tweet has caused offense - never intended for which I apologise wholeheartedly. Meant to be read in context of slow growth.”
Hart also registered for an MBA, but this is incomplete.
In 2005, he started the advanced degree, but was not able to complete this because of the sudden death of his twin brother, Donovan, in February 2007. His brother was apparently killed during a hijacking attempt.
Hart joined Absa in 1998 after 13 years teaching and left that post, leaving as senior economist, in July 2007 to join Investment Solutions, Bloomberg reported at the time.
Towards the end of last year he joined Standard Bank as global investment strategist. He left Investment Solutions as its chief strategist around September.
Standard Bank has since distanced itself from Hart’s Twitter comment’s, noting: “The comments made by him are factually incorrect, make inappropriate assumptions about South Africa and have racist undertones.
“Accordingly, Standard Bank Group will be initiating the appropriate internal disciplinary processes to ensure that these types of personal comments are not associated with Standard Bank Group in the future. We expect our colleagues in every country to at all time reflect the values of Standard Bank Group.”
IOL