POLITICS

Case of theft to be opened against two UJ senior academics – YCLSA Gauteng

League says the pair allegedly stole more than R25m from university coffers

YCLSA Gauteng Province to open a case of theft against UJ two - Prof Roy Marcus and Jaco van Schoor

13 September 2017

The Young Communist League of South Africa in Gauteng Province will on Thursday the 14th of September 2017, at exactly10:00 in the morning, open a case of theft against University of Johannesburg chairperson of council Professor Roy Marcus and deputy vice-chancellor of finance Jaco van Schoor at the Johannesburg Police Station, Newtown. This after the pair allegedly brazenly stole more than R25 million from university coffers.

The YCLSA in Gauteng is reliably informed that the R25 million as reported in various media outlets to have been stolen by the two is just a tip of the iceberg. To shed more light into the nefarious business affairs of the pair, we call on the law enforcement agencies to expand their investigation to include other related transactions conducted between the university and other business entities before Mr Marcus and Mr van Schoor stepped down from their roles at the institution. This, we believe, will shed more light into the financial affairs of the institution and move one step closer in exposing how public funds meant for student finance, research work, worker’s salaries, etc end up in private hands.

We further call on various bodies and/or institutions where Professor Roy Marcus and deputy vice-chancellor of finance Jaco van Schoor serve as board members to temporarily suspend their membership pending the investigation. In a country reeling under the scourge of corruption involving public funds, we cannot afford to have individuals who are supposed to uphold high morals and ethics but tainted with such allegations serving on boards whose decisions have a direct bearing on society.

While the University of Johannesburg maybe worried that the issue would harm the institution’s reputation, we are concerned about the untold impact that this heinous crime has on the lives of students, the workers and the much-needed research work. We call upon UJ to make public all the findings once the forensic investigations are concluded.

Issued by Alex Mdakane, Provincial Secretary, YCLSA Gauteng, 13 September 2017