How much taxpayers paid to educate politicians

Minister Noxolo Kiviet backed UFH course that’s not recognised

Taxpayers paid millions of rands for top Eastern Cape politicians to obtain dubious postgraduate qualifications at the University of Fort Hare (UFH) in a special programme championed by newly appointed public service and administration minister Noxolo Kiviet.

The Sunday Times has established that a probe by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) found that the Eastern Cape legislature paid highly inflated fees for the politicians and officials it registered to take a public administration course that is not accredited with or recognised by the South African Qualifications Authority.

The programme was part of an alleged scam run by disgraced professor Edwin Ijeoma, who headed the public administration faculty at the university’s Bhisho satellite campus — where the legislature is situated.

Ijeoma, who was arrested and charged in 2021 after Fort Hare accused him of defrauding it, apparently diverted more than R4m of taxpayers’ money that should have gone to UFH.

An SIU document obtained by the Sunday Times states: “It appears that the [bank] account [into which the state’s fees money was paid] was used as a slush fund by the faculty

… Preliminary reviews of the statements revealed a number of claims for reimbursements for members of the faculty, which payments appear to have been claimed over and above these members’ monthly salary payment.”

The Eastern Cape legislature paid between R50,000 and R80,000 for public servants to undertake the course punted by Ijeoma, while other students paid between R11,641 and R27,000. The SIU document does not explain why there was such a large range in fees for the same programme.

After Ijeoma’s arrest, the university deregistered 15 public servants for not meeting admission requirements. It also deregistered Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane and former health MEC Sindiswa Gomba on the same grounds.

By 2018, Kiviet had already allegedly done her honours and her master’s in public administration at UFH armed with only a matric certificate.

A document UFH supplied to the SIU states: “There is no proof either that the candidate was accepted at honours through RPL [recognition of prior learning]. The candidate applied for honours and was admitted — without NQF level 7 or its equivalence or RPL — registered, and passed the programme.” Kiviet said she could not comment because she had not seen the report. However, she “wished to emphasize that she possesses legitimate credentials as conferred by the institution and that the accusations leveled against her are unfounded and false.”

SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said: “We are going to investigate all the degrees and investigations are still in the early stages.”

The Sunday Times has established that out of the R50,000 the legislature paid per student, only R10,000 went to tuition while the rest went on catering, student cards, registration fees, levies, study material, project employees’ salaries, lecturers’ claims and the university’s 15% cut.

“The Eastern Cape provincial legislature, which had funded students for the short courses, raised numerous concerns with UFH in 2018 relating to the faculty and the fees charged for students,” the SIU report said.

“Among these concerns was a discrepancy in fees being charged for legislature students who were sponsored for special programmes and those charged for students who were studying full-time or part-time.”

One of the programme beneficiaries is former MP Mike Basopu, who resigned from parliament to make way for finance minister Enoch Godongwana.

In his dissertation for his PhD, which he obtained through the same programme, Basopu writes that Kiviet introduced the programme to the legislature and participated in it.

The SIU document states that it was run from the Speaker’s office, which Kiviet occupied at the time.

Documents from the provincial legislature show that taxpayers paid for Kiviet, ANC parliamentary chief whip Pemmy Majodina, Gomba and others from 2005 for the advanced certificate in public administration after an “assessment through RPL” was done by the university.

“Those who qualified were accepted to study honours, proceeded to do a master’s in public administration for a maximum of five years,” reads the legislature document.

According to the document, Kiviet graduated with a master’s in public administration in 2013 together with South African ambassador to Belgium, Tokozile Xasa.

The legislature declined to comment on how much it paid for the programme, which ended in 2019.

“The legislature will not comment or release information relating to the programme at this stage due to the ongoing investigation,” said spokesperson Lwandile Sicwetsha, who referred questions about the individuals being investigated to the SIU.

Insiders at Fort Hare have told the Sunday Times that the SIU has been asked to expand its investigation into other postgraduate degrees. The SIU report says it is investigating a university employee, Monica Gysman-Zuma, who allegedly recruited public servants to the programme on Ijeoma’s behalf. It is alleged that she also recruited councillors without matric certificates from various municipalities.

Gysman-Zuma did not respond to a request for comment on WhatsApp but did see the message.