UNISA Rubbishes Magaya Diploma & Doctorate Claim, Sues For Reputational Damage.

The University of South Africa (UNISA) has officially issued a statement regarding the Walter Magaya diploma debacle, rubbishing the self-proclaimed prophet’s claims of possessing a Diploma from the University.

Walter Magaya, who runs a flourishing pentecostal church in Harare, made headlines in the last few weeks after he failed to produce an ordinary level certificate as required by Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) rules where he intented to run for the football mother body’s presidency.

Zifa requires contestants for president to have a minimum of 5 Ordinary levels or equivalent.

Zifa disqualified Magaya’s candidature for the coveted post after he failed to produce the O’level certificate, leading the man of cloth to approach the courts for relief.

Magaya’s court application attached two diplomas, one in Marketing and another in Theology, which he claimed were attained at UNISA.

His court sojourn was thrown out however, by High Court Judge, Justice Tawanda Chitapi, who said Prophet Magaya must produce an O’level certificate or its equivalent or provide proof that his diplomas were equivalent to an ordinary level certificate as required by Zifa rules.

After the court loss, several Zimbabweans approached Unisa, requesting confirmation that Magaya had indeed been a student at the institution. In responding to journalist Maynard Manyowa;s enquiry, Unisa professed ignorance of Magaya and said the institution had never had him as a student.

Unisa today officially issued a statement on the debacle, rubbishing Magaya’s claims and threatening legal action over reputational damage.

“The University of South Africa notes with serious concern information doing the rounds in the public domain as well as recent video circulating on social media, where it is purported that a certain Zimbabwean national, Walter Magaya, is a graduate or alumnus of the University.

“Responding to  a media query from a certain international media platform, the university confirmed that, based on the information provided by the said media platform, the system of the University could not find any record showing that Mr Magaya was ever registered or graduated with Unisa.

“This effectively means that Unisa does not have Mr Magaya either as a student or a graduate. Any certificate/s he produces which he claims to be from Unisa is/are therefore fraudulent.

“Subsiquent to the issuing of the media response, the university also came across a video clip in the social media domain, wherein Mr Magaya also claims to have received n honorary doctorate from Unisa.

“The university has never conferred any honorary doctorate on Mr Magaya and strongly condemns this false claim.

“We believe that conduct of this nature damages and brings our brand into disrepute and we reserve the right to take appropriate corrective action. Relevant authorities within the university have therefore been requested to take the necessary legal action in this regard.\Ends.”