Daily News reports that thousands of Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) former civil engineering students are holding “questionable” qualifications following the surfacing of allegations that one of the lecturers was passing them in exchange for sex or money.

The lecturer allegedly started the practice soon after joining the institution in 2011. A source within the university said they were internally informed that his colleague had been suspended two weeks ago, but the management did not give reasons for the suspension or go public about the matter. The source said many current and former students had been approaching them about the matter, especially women students who had refused to sleep with the lecturer for good marks. He said if it was not for the new Vice-Chancellor, Nokuthula Sibiya, the lecturer would still be continuing with his dirty work because the previous management under the expelled Vice-Chancellor had not acted even though management had been informed. “We are concerned about the future of students and the reputation of our institution which is why we decided that the public must know about this. Civil engineering is an important skill for the country so it is dangerous if there are people out there who hold fake qualifications,” said the source. The lecturer was apparently charging between R4,000 and R5,000 per subject or payment by way of sex with him if students were women. The university’s spokesperson could not confirm or deny the matter, saying the university could not talk about the matter as it was a human resource issue.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Willem Phungula at Daily News

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