Paul Kirk
A senior Technikon Natal accountancy lecturer who has been found guilty of plagiarism was charged with housebreaking and slapped with a restraining order by the terrified lecturer who blew the whistle on his fake degree.
The Mail & Guardian reported in March that Ian dey van Heerden’s PhD in business management was withdrawn by Hawthorne University in the United States on the grounds that large portions of his thesis were copied from accountancy magazines.
Last week he is alleged to have broken into the home of Jeanette Wicks the lecturer who helped expose his plagiarised PhD.
Now, the Students Representative Council at Technikon Natal wants an inquiry as students caught plagiarising work are routinely expelled, while Van Heerden has gone unpunished by the institution.
Technikon Natal has not launched any investigation into the matter, nor convened a disciplinary hearing. Van Heerden has not responded to any queries from the M&G.
Carol McDonald, a spokesperson for Terry Dagnall-Quinn, the dean of the department of commerce at the technikon, told the M&G that Van Heerden had not claimed to the technikon that he had his PhD. She said the institution was in contact with Van Heerden’s lawyers, who were consulting with Hawthorne University.
Van Heerden’s colleagues say class attendance is at an all-time low, with students boycotting lectures given by the senior lecturer.
Van Heerden borrowed the material he plagiarised to produce a PhD from Wicks and her husband who is also an accountancy lecturer. He used a computer and scanner belonging to the Wickses to write his thesis.
Using borrowed publications put out by the British Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, Van Heerden produced his PhD in record time and submitted it to Hawthorne University in Salt Lake City, Utah.
After some time spent trying to retrieve the material lent to Van Heerden, Jeanette Wicks received the documents and among them was a copy of Van Heerden’s PhD. She immediately contacted Hawthorne which, after mounting an investigation, sent a letter to Van Heerden rescinding his PhD.
Hawthorne president Kraig Munzert wrote: “In short, your dissertation was plagiarised. This breach of academic ethics is viewed very seriously by this institution.”
Wicks said she had opened two cases against Van Heerden for housebreaking. One, at Durban Central police station, relates to an incident where Van Heerden is alleged to have attempted to break into her home. He was seen allegedly trying to force his way into the Wickses’ flat.
The second charge was laid after Wicks, her husband and another witness claim they arrived home to find Van Heerden, two women and two children in their flat. Van Heerden’s entourage fled the scene. Wicks called the Flying Squad, who tried in vain to find the group.
Wicks said after the second alleged housebreaking, she obtained a restraining order against Van Heerden as she fears for her life.