By Ntombekhaya Busuku
Rod Amner, a senior lecturer at Rhodes University and the former director of the Development Media Agency (DMA), has distanced Rhodes University from the controversy surrounding Eastern Cape health department spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo.
The Hawks arrested Kupelo after submitting a fake matric certificate to secure his position as deputy director of communications.
Based on the testimony given by Kupelo’s supervisor, Siyanda Manana, in court, Kupelo also presented a community journalism certificate he claimed he obtained from Rhodes University.
Amner clarified Rhodes University did not issue the certificate in question. He explained that the course Kupelo completed in the late 1990s was a non-accredited, three-month training programme to develop community journalism in the Eastern Cape.
While the DMA received guidance and support from Rhodes University’s School of Journalism and Media Studies, “the course was not an NQF-level course. It was a training and enrichment initiative to support the development of community journalism in the region. We operated in the High Street,” he said.
Amner clarified that Rhodes University had no role in Kupelo’s appointment and bears no responsibility for how the certificate was used. It was the Eastern Cape Department of Health’s responsibility to verify the authenticity and relevance of the documents presented to them by Kupelo. And completing the community journalism course, which was not a formal academic qualification, would not meet the requirements for a senior communications role such as deputy director.
