Univen Employee Suspended for Alleged Bribery After Prospective Student Exposes Corruption on Twitter

• The University of Venda in Limpopo has suspended a staff member for corruption and bribery
• The Univen staff member was exposed for trying to extort R3 500 from a prospective student for admission into a PGCE programme
• The student says she no longer feels safe because her personal information is so easily accessible

VENDA - A staff member at the University of Venda's attempt to take advantage of a prospective student has landed them in hot water.

The university suspended the unidentified staff member after the potential student exposed the employee for soliciting a bribe on Twitter.

Prospective student posts extensive thread exposing Univen employee for corruption

The prospective student, @mihlali_Qotoyi1, posted the entire exchange with the Univen staff member on Twitter.

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Woman exposes University of Venda of admissions corruption and posts texts of employee asking R 3 500 bribe

The staff member allegedly obtained the student's personal information from the university's portal after she had applied for the PGCE programme.

The employee claimed that for R3 500, he could help the student get admitted into the programme. @mihlali_Qotoyi1 asked if paying the bribe would guarantee admission, to which the Univen employee responded:

"You'll never be sure, but the fact that I got your personal information should be assurance enough."

Univen takes action against corrupt staff member

It didn't take long for the student's thread to go viral and catch the university's attention.

According to Univen spokesperson Takalani Dzaga, the staff member was identified and suspended until disciplinary action can be taken.

Dzanga condemned the incident and said that the university would take serious measures against staff members implicated in corrupt activities that bring the institution into disrepute.

Dzanga said:

“The university management is committed to root out any corrupt activities within the university.”

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The prospective Univen student does not feel safe after her privacy was violated

Even though the staff member was caught because of her exposé, the student still feels unsafe.

She expressed concern about how easily her personal information, like her contact details and next of kin, was so easily accessible, TimesLIVE reported.

The staff member allegedly texted the student again and asked her to delete the thread. The student refused and claimed she needed assurance that her application would not be denied because she refused to pay the bribe.

South Africans are shocked by how bad corruption is at Univen

Citizens shared their dismay over how bold the Univen employee was; others even shared their own experiences with corruption at the university and other institutions.

Below are some reactions:

@Camberry_cam advised:

"I'd take this further, find out who exactly the person is and take it up with the relevant authorities. Such must come to an end."

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@tshephorex complained:

"Our kids are at home stressed because of such people's cold drink of R3.5K."

@ChatWithNelo shared:

"I’m worried about your safety more than anything."

@Buhle_Mahlangu1 commented:

"So basically there's corruption everywhere in this country."

@matjhupa claimed:

"My friend told me they also wanted him to pay at UNISA."

@Maka_Qhawe added:

"The same thing happened to my little sister at UJ, they wanted us to pay R4k."

Mzansi police officer with 2 doctorates claims SAPS does not value education, hasn’t been promoted in 16 years

In another story, Briefly News reported that the South African Police Service is losing its credibility by the day as citizens fear for their safety and would instead contact a family member, friend or even a stranger in a time of need than their local law enforcement.

Briefly News had the pleasure of speaking to Dr Modise, a man who has dedicated 28 years to the police force. He has spent 16 of those years in the same position with no explanation why he has not been put forward for promotion.

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Change is needed in the SAPS and he believes it's possible by empowering officers through education.

Source: Briefly News