Durban - The Sunday Tribune has been gagged by the University of KwaZulu-Natal from publishing details and the role-players mentioned in a KPMG report into corruption at the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine.
The order was granted on Saturday by Judge Gregory Kruger in the Durban High Court.
The application was served at 10am on Saturday and the Tribune’s lawyer, Jacques Louw, who asked for the matter to be heard by telephone as he was in Cape Town, was not accorded the opportunity.
The Tribune will oppose the interim order in an effort to keep the public informed on what is happening in the massive graft at the medical school.
UKZN issued letters of precautionary suspension to 18 staff linked to a syndicate involved in irregular admissions and the selling of places this week, but the suspected kingpins have not been named by the institution.
While the university’s focus has been on low-level administration staff, it is now believed police are investigating top-level management.
That the report has not been released, months after it was handed over to the university, has angered students who shut the medical school during protest action this week.
How we broke the story.
There have also been repeated requests for the report to be released on social media for perusal by the public.
The university has repeatedly claimed that the report was part of criminal investigations, but KZN Hawks spokesperson Captain Simphiwe Mhlongo confirmed that the Hawks had also requested the report several months ago, but the university had not handed it over.
The staff who were issued with letters this week are administration staff, who, according to their letters, face suspension for tampering with the data of potential and existing students, tampering with the admission and selection of students, tampering with marks and assessments, leaking confidential information related to student assessments, tampering with academic records, issuing UKZN degree certificates without authority, as well as gaining unauthorised access to the university’s systems.
They are allegedly linked to a syndicate selling places to study medicine and other health science courses within the institution for up to R500 000 a place.
Mhlongo said the Hawks investigations were ongoing and that more arrests were now imminent.
The laptops of 286 staff were confiscated in a search and seizure operation on Thursday, but Mhlongo said the Hawks were not part of this operation which could jeopardise their investigation if evidence was tampered with.
Meanwhile, a parallel investigation into leaked examination papers at UKZN is also under way. UKZN’s Risk Management Services has appointed audit firm KPMG to investigate this too.
This week, staff and students were called to meetings at KPMG’s offices regarding the leaked exam papers.
Earlier this year, when three suspects linked to the syndicate were arrested, it was alleged that examination papers were being sold at the medical school with answer papers for up to R30 000.
UKZN spokesperson Normah Zondo confirmed that an investigation into a leaked exam paper was under way.
“There is no investigation into the sale of exam papers. It is an investigation into a leak of an exam paper. KPMG were appointed by the director of Risk Management Services to assist with this investigation,” said Zondo.
Zondo also said she could not disclose how much the university would spend on the investigation.
Meanwhile, UKZN Central Student Representative Council’s, Noxolo Bhengu, said a meeting would take place on Monday where the contents of the KPMG report would be presented to them.
“However, we do not want the contents. We want to be given that full report. Students are still on strike because of this. What is the university hiding that they do not want to give it to us and then they further lie that the report has been handed over to the police? We will see what tomorrow holds,” said Bhengu.