UKZN working with Hawks to identify beneficiaries of fraud and corruption

DURBAN – The University of KwaZulu-Natal’s (UKZN) forensic services department has been working very closely with law enforcement agencies since the beginning of the investigation which led to the arrests of members of a syndicate responsible for selling admission spaces at the UKZN, the institution said on Sunday."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," UKZN vice chancellor and principal Dr Albert van Jaarsveld said. The university executive management had prioritised the matter and was fully supportive of the investigation. University management initiated the investigation and had been co-operating fully with the investigation to ensure that all those implicated faced the full might of the law, he said. "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." The university executive management was also deeply concerned about its medical school’s reputation and the negative effect that any corruption of medical school selection and admission processes would have on this reputation. Additional checks and balances in the selection and admission processes had led to detection of specific corrupt practices which were then referred to the Hawks for further investigation. Procedures and practice were also continually being improved to reduce risks. "We are committed to rooting out all corruption at the university and require the assistance of the public to contact the university fraud hotline on the toll free number 0800-20-32-85. All reports will be treated anonymously and in the strictest of confidence," Van Jaarsveld said.

– African News Agency (ANA)