Durban – One member of staff at the University of KwaZulu-Natal has been dismissed and 18 others have been served with letters of intention to suspend them for their alleged involvement in the sale of places at the Nelson Mandela School of Medicine, Dr Albert van Jaarsveld, the university’s vice chancellor and principal, said on Thursday.
Five students have been implicated in the admissions scam, he said.
He revealed that "the wholescale investigation into fraudulent admissions conducted by the university has resulted in a search and seizure operation involving 286 staff members that could be potentially implicated".
It is being undertaken with the assistance of an external forensic audit company to gather further evidence, investigate and determine the full extent of staff involvement.
Management at the university initiated the lengthy investigation which led to the uncovering of the syndicate.
“[The lengthy process] was critical to ensure that all people implicated face the full might of the law," Van Jaarsveld said.