R3m demand for plagiarised publication

Masters supervisor admits to cribbing

ADEMAND for R3-million in damages for alleged plagiarism by two academic doctors has been served on the University of Fort Hare (UFH) by a former masters student.

The two education faculty academics, Dr Jane Abongdia and her husband Dr John Wankha Foncha, are accused of using Nomalizo Mazwayi’s work without her knowledge and presenting it as their own in an edition of the Journal of Social Science published in 2014. Both have since left the university.

In an e-mailed statement on Monday, UFH spokesman Kgotso Moabi confirmed the university was served with papers.

Moabi stated: “Now that we have received legal representation from Ms Mazwayi’s attorneys, the university will be following up the matter with the relevant personnel in attempt to resolve the current grievances.”

Moabi said that even though the two academics no longer work for the university, “they must take personal responsibility for this academic misconduct”.

Abongdia now teaches at Cape Peninsula University of Technology and Foncha at the University of Limpopo.

In a further statement last night, Moabi said a tribunal found only Abongdia guilty of plagiarism after she admitted to it. Abongdia’s coau Dr Foncha, was cleared of wrongdoing by the tribunal after he submitted that he was not aware that some sections of the article had been plagiarised because, as co-author, he was solely responsible for collection of data and had made no contribution to the plagiarised sections.

Mazwayi had not completed thesis, said Moabi.

Foncha and Abongdia, in a joint response to the Dispatch’s e-mailed questions, yesterday said they would meet with their lawyer tomorrow and would release their official response on Monday.

Abongdia was Mazwayi’s supervisor her in 2013 while she was doing her research dissertation titled Analysis of Grade 5 Learners’ English First Additional Language Proficiency in One School in Mdantsane Township.

Mazwayi, 53, from Nxarhuni, told the Dispatch that she had been shocked to find her work while researching online on December 29 2014 for articles relevant to her dissertation. —