The Citizen reports that SA’s new Public Service and Administration Minister Noxolo Kiviet is facing allegations of fraud, just days after assuming office in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s new Cabinet.

In an affidavit submitted to the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), Kiviet is accused of obtaining her honours and master’s degrees despite not having an undergraduate qualification. According to News24, when Kiviet registered for her honours degree, she only had a matric certificate and a short-course certificate with handwritten results. The News24 report indicates that Kiviet’s alleged degree fraud was exposed by a senior official at the University of Fort Hare. “There’s no proof either that the candidate [Kiviet] was accepted at honours through RPL [Recognition of Prior Learning]. The candidate applied for Hons and was admitted without NQF level 7 or its equivalence or RPL, registered and passed the programme. Upon completion of Hons, the candidate applied, registered, and passed MPA [master’s in public administration] and the degree was formally awarded on 7 May 2010,” part of the affidavit reads. Kiviet told the publication that the allegations against her were “baseless and untrue”. Kiviet is a former Premier of the Eastern Cape from 2009 to 2014. She was also the speaker of the Eastern Cape legislature.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard at The Citizen
• Read too, Fort Hare reports Minister Noxolo Kiviet to SIU over her two degrees, at News24 (subscriber access only)

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