Allegations of academic misconduct

Dear colleagues and students

I am writing to inform you about allegations of discriminatory practices in the awarding of marks levelled at the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Department of Social Work and Social Development. The allegations were initially submitted to the Office of the President, which in turn referred the matter to the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET).

We received notice of these allegations on Tuesday, 5 August 2025 from the DHET, when they also posted a public statement about the same, indicating they will engage with us at UCT. On the morning of Wednesday, 6 August 2025, I had a call with the Minister of Higher Education and Training to discuss the handling of the matter going forward.

As UCT, we have tight measures in place to safeguard the integrity of our academic programmes. We are a top-ranked university on the continent, because we value academic excellence and integrity, and measure ourselves against global standards of excellence.

If anyone in our academic community was found to engage in academic misconduct of any kind, such practices will compromise the academic quality, standards and standing of UCT.

Whilst we have offered to conduct an internal investigation on the matter, we now invite DHET to conduct an independent investigation given the need to restore public confidence as stated in the statement by the Minister.

We will continue to engage with the Minister and the Department to ensure this matter is timeously brought to conclusion.

We encourage all members of our UCT community to report any form of misconduct via the independent whistle-blowing hotline. The hotline can be contacted by calling 0800 650 000, sending an SMS to 33490, or via email.

Sincerely

Professor Mosa Moshabela
Vice-Chancellor

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• From the UCT Executive
• Campus Announcements