Leoka may have committed perjury
Economist and businessperson Thabi Leoka may have opened herself to possible charges of perjury should she not be able to provide evidence of the PhD she purportedly had attained from the London School of Economics (LSE).
Business Day has tracked an instance where she testified under oath that she has the disputed PhD.
Leoka in 2017 gave evidence before the Commission of Inquiry into Higher Education and Training, which investigated whether free higher education in SA was possible.
After swearing that the evidence she would give was the “whole truth and nothing but the truth”, Leoka was asked to talk about her qualifications.
“I have got five degrees, I have got an undergrad from Wits University, I did for my undergrad it was a BA focusing on international economics and international relations and then I did an honours degree and a master’s degree in international economics and international relations at Wits University,” reads the transcript of the hearing available on the department’s website.
“Then I did an MSC in economics and looking at economics and economic history and then a PhD in international economics at, the last two University of London LSE.”
Leoka denied that she misrepresented her qualification, saying she had obtained the highest level of academic achievement under a different name. She did not give that name to Business Day.
Leoka, a board member of MTN SA, Anglo American Platinum and, until recently, of Johann Rupert’s investment vehicle Remgro, could face perjury charges if she fails to prove her PhD claim. Lying under oath is a criminal offence that can result in a fine or imprisonment.
Business Day on Tuesday reported that Leoka, who also serves on the presidential economic advisory council, does not hold a PhD in economics from the LSE as she claims.
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office has asked her to “expeditiously address the matter of her qualifications” in the interests of transparency.
Leoka has been a member of the council since its inception in 2019. Members include several local academic and private sector economists, as well as international luminaries such as Harvard professor Dani Rodrik and University College London’s Mariana Mazzucato.
Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, said though the body is nonstatutory and formal vetting is not a requirement, the presidency has requested that Leoka offer an explanation as soon as possible.
“The members volunteer their time and they are not employed by the presidency, nor are they remunerated by the state. In the interest of transparency, the presidency has requested Ms Leoka to expeditiously address the matter of her qualifications,” Magwenya said.
When contacted for comment by Business Day, Leoka insisted she had obtained her PhD from the LSE despite it having no record of conferring the qualification on her.
Leoka told radio station 702’s Clement Manyathela on Tuesday she indeed holds a PhD from the LSE. “They didn’t use my full name. Without using the right names, the school wouldn’t verify or confirm a name that is
incomplete or not on their system. I changed my name with home affairs,” she explained.
Misrepresentation of qualifications seems to have become a pandemic in SA, which has destroyed trust in institutions, said Erwin Schwella, an emeritus professor of public leadership at Tilburg Law School in the Netherlands.
Schwella said a person who falsifies their qualifications is not fit to serve on the board of a company that requires good corporate governance ethics and the exercise of fiduciary responsibility. “Boards are the protectors of good governance, must exercise due diligence and continuously make sure that things happen properly.
“There has been a consistent stream of qualification falsification which points to fundamental dishonesty,” he said, adding that it is analogous to plagiarism, which is a cardinal sin in academic terms.
A recent example of the misrepresentation was that of Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane, who was found in a forensic report to have fraudulently obtained a master’s degree from Fort Hare University and was in line to receive a PhD.