Johannesburg – Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane has been accused of having improperly gained admission for a master’s degree at the University of Fort Hare.
The controversy has been cited as one of the reasons behind the suspension of Nigerian- born professor of Eeconomics Edwin Ijeoma.
The ANC provincial chairperson was admitted to a master’s degree in public administration at the university while he allegedly did not meet the requirements for the post-graduate programme, which has a prerequisite of an honours degree.
The premier only possess a bachelor’s degree in economics, details of which are also confirmed by his profile on the University of Fort Hare’s website where he is listed as an alumni of the institution.
Mabuyane’s supervisor professor Ijeoma was recently suspended by the University of Fort Hare for serious misconduct, which the university still refuses to divulge.
But two senior university staffers privy to Mabuyane’s admission at the university revealed that the premier’s admission to a master’s degree programme was irregularly approved by the university under questionable processes.
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The staffers have revealed that the premier’s admission was being investigated by the university, together with the admission of other senior ANC politicians in the Eastern Cape. Mabuyane’s alleged link to the admission scheme comes after his former MEC of health Sindiswa Gomba was exposed in October 2020 to have been admitted for an honours degree programme in administration at the same university while she did not possess any junior degree.
Gomba was last week fired by Mabuyane from his cabinet after she was charged with fraud and corruption for her involvement in the Nelson Mandela funeral scandal.
The staffers have revealed that the University of Fort Hare has, following its discovery of the admission scheme, informed the premier that it was investigating allegations relating to his admission, and that a decision might be taken to deregister him.
Another source said the matter was being kept a secret by the university because of Mabuyane’s high profile.
UFH Spokesperson Tandi Mapukata declined to comment on why Mabuyane was admitted for Masters degree without an honours. She said she was not aware about an intent to deregister the Premier.
Mabuyane confirmed in a WhatsApp response that he was indeed a master’s student at the university and that the suspended professor was his supervisor.
But he said he had followed the process of application as indicated in the university prospectus like all other students.
“The university admired me as their student for this course because after processing my application, they accepted me as their student. I opted for research work for my studies and I made this application in my presentation made to the panel of professors of the faculty,” he said.
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The premier denied receiving any letter informing him that he could be deregistered as a student.
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