A University of SA employee investigating the forging of Unisa degrees and diplomas has been receiving death threats, a spokesperson announced on Monday.
Gerry Pieterse said Gherhardt Waldeck, head of student disciplinary matters at Unisa, had been receiving threatening calls related to prosecutions initiated against individuals who forged the university’s certificates.
There was growing evidence that organised crime, and more specifically Chinese Triad organisations, were forging Unisa degrees and diplomas. A Chinese national was recently arrested while attempting to print Unisa degree certificates and was being questioned by the police, said Pieterse.
Unisa had recently prosecuted a teacher who obtained a post at a school in the United Kingdom using a forged Unisa post-graduate diploma, he said. The British school suspended her work permit and were deporting her and she would be arrested upon arrival in South Africa.
Since the beginning of the year the university had lodged 42 cases against people who tendered fake Unisa qualifications, said Pieterse. – Sapa