I have three separate stories on my desk at the moment that are potentially of pretty significant public interest. All three involve individuals in fairly high-profile government positions who may have falsified their qualifications. But due to South Africa’s privacy laws, it is possible that none of these alleged fraudsters is going to be exposed any time soon.

Since the Protection of Personal Information Act (Popia) came into effect in 2021, journalists seeking to confirm whether public servants or political figures hold the degrees they claim from South African universities are simply told that this information cannot be shared.   

This was the experience my colleague Victoria O’Regan and I had two years ago after we had received a tip-off that the DA’s Western Cape leader, Bonginkosi Madikizela, did not hold the BCom in Human Resource Management from Unisa that he had claimed for years on his CV.

The only reason we were able to report that story in the end was because Madikizela ended up confessing the truth to us. If he hadn’t, we probably would have dropped it – with no clear way of confirming the allegations in the absence of cooperation from the university.

Universities say: No can do

In frustration this week, I surveyed 10 of South Africa’s leading universities to clarify their approach to this issue: Would the institution in question confirm whether a particular individual had obtained a particular degree if a journalist was asking?

Seven of the universities responded to my query.

“We would only share it if we had permission from the student or graduate to share such information. The individual should be made fully aware of the purpose and scope of the information sharing,” replied University of the Western Cape spokesperson Nashira Davids.

This was the case for five of the seven: they will only provide an answer to journalists with the written consent of the person being enquired about. 

Naturally, the chances that somebody trying to hide a falsified qualification will politely compose a memo instructing the university to assist a journalist with the relevant information are precisely nil.

The universities are complying with the letter of the law here, attorney Arinda Truter from the law firm DML explained to me.

“They are, in fact, correct in asserting that, without explicit consent from the data subject, they cannot disclose personal information, including details related to the individual’s educational history, such as their academic degrees,” Truter said.

“There are compelling reasons for universities to be protective of this type of personal information. In sharing personal information without the informed consent of a data subject, and outside the parameters of Popia, the university will not only breach the data subject’s privacy, which has severe legal consequences, but also be in breach of Popia, which may have legal and financial consequences.”

The universities all said that the same restrictions would apply to a potential employer trying to vet a candidate’s qualifications: not without the consent of the candidate.

Several South African universities do share data with the National Qualifications Register (NQR), which is a database owned by private company MIE.

MIE spokesperson Jennifer Barkhuizen told me: “MIE is able to verify the qualification of individuals [for a fee] if they have obtained a formal qualification through any of the subscribing institutions and if the records are available on the NQR. The register is typically updated after each graduation ceremony and only contains records of individuals who have completed their qualifications.”

But here, too, consent is required from the individuals being vetted. Yet, maddeningly, this does not seem to be the case for many other – one would think – equally sensitive forms of information.

With a subscription to a South African credit database, for instance, in a matter of minutes, I can pull up information including whether someone has ever been married; their history of property ownership; whether they have ever been declared bankrupt; and much more. All of this can be undertaken, rightly or wrongly, without the consent of the relevant individual and without the query necessarily being in the public interest.

Can universities do more?  

Several of the institutions I surveyed suggested alternative routes towards obtaining the necessary information: via a Protection of Access to Information Act request, for instance, or an application to the national Information Regulator. These methods are hugely time-consuming, however, and can take months to resolve.

From the perspective of a journalist, though, there were glimmers of hope in the responses I received from two universities.

University of Cape Town (UCT) spokesperson Elijah Moholola said that UCT would, in fact, “confirm details of an individual student’s qualification” to the media without the consent of the person being investigated.

“However, it is important to note that although UCT can provide confirmation of an individual student’s qualification, the university can only confirm any further specific details if there is consent in writing by the student concerned.”

It should be clarified that no reasonable journalist would suggest that universities should give out details related to, for instance, somebody’s grades. Almost always, the single factor in question is whether or not a public figure holds the degree they claim.

The University of the Witwatersrand, meanwhile, said it would correct falsehoods put into the public domain regarding Wits degrees.

“Generally, if a claim is made publicly by, or regarding an individual holding a particular qualification, and if the claim is found to be false, the university is obliged to set the public record straight in line with its rules, policies and procedures,” said spokesperson Shirona Patel.   

Perhaps most significantly, University of Pretoria spokesperson Rikus Delport told me: “We are aware that Universities South Africa is looking into guidance to all public universities on the handling of media requests as, in some instances, it could be in the public interest to make the information available.”

The public interest element of this issue is undeniable. In one of the three cases I am currently investigating, the person in question secured their government position based on a highly technical, expertise-intensive qualification they claim to hold. If this turns out to be untrue, there are potentially national implications.

Understandably, universities are cautious about their compliance with Popia, especially given that the legislation is relatively new. But there is surely a conversation to be held, at the same time, about universities’ responsibilities to the wider society in helping to unmask wrongdoing – when the consequences of this type of fraud for the country could be very serious. DM