Thabi Leoka axed from Presidential Economic Advisory Council following PhD scandal

Being sickly seems to be related to honesty.

Well, well. The key question now; what action will be taken n terms of her lofty positions in SA Inc as per the final paragraph in this article?

Feminist criminology has long lamented the mis- and under-representation of women in criminality. Criminology has often presented women as victims and not as perpetrators of crime and deviance. As it seems, Feminist criminologists were right. ??

It is mind boggling to think coprates like Anglo Platinum, MTN and Netcare as not vetted such high profile as a board member. These companies should not get away without any sanction from either the shareholders or the Insituion they belong. One question was these position advertised or appointed through cronisim.

She is probably one of many - Time for zero tolerance. In her case resignation is necessary but not sufficient. She must be prosecuted for fraud and sued to recover the money paid to her under false pretences.

Woah! This is a record for even the ANC. Both a coal train collision and a heavy train wreck within 2 weeks. Excellent pre election work guys! Show the people what they can expect for the next 4 years ????????

Does the piece of paper represent her, or does she represent. If she delivers besides the PhD scandal, why not leave to serve the board. Coz she got immense experience after serving in so many international brands.

Why am I not surprized? The fact that she still chairs the economic stats committee and the presidential economic advisory as well as Stats SA- this is surely a farce. If it was someone else- they would have been fired as soon as the story broke.

Gravy, not heavy! Can't edit!

"Leoka remains a board member of the Small Business Institute. She continues to serve on the Statistics South Africa Council" Of course she does. ...liars are entgusiastically welcomed to our government run institutions.

Another one bites the dust! Thousands more await the same verification process and ignominious fate. Good riddance!

Her health? She'll get better in no time at all just like Zuma did.

Dept of Higher Education or academic institutions should create a database, similar to credit and criminal checks, where qualifications can be vetted. Tender time!

Rather tragic. Apparently she started her PhD in 2005 and got far as an MPhil, but after a few years at SOAS did not finish the PhD. It has become a thing on some CVs I’ve encountered for people to put the degree they’re studying down in an ambiguous way, as if they’ve completed it. This fact that she spent some time doing a PhD though does not seem to have been reported on.

The article is titled: "Thabi Leoka axed from Presidential Economic Advisory Council following PhD scandal" and the last paragraph states: "She continues to serve on the Statistics South Africa Council, where she chairs the Economic Statistics Committee, and is a member of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council"

How valid are the qualifications of the rest of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council? The economy is down the drains due to the stupid ANC policies. I don't know what the advice is that this Council is providing. Either they (the Council) don't know what they are doing or the President/government just ignores them. Anybody worth their salt that values their reputation would then resign from a useless, 'just for show' committee whose recommendations are continuously disregarded (going by how bad the economy is). Or they are just giving sh*t advice...

Someone did post an interesting question previously. Why does someone as talented who already has two (confirmed and vetted) masters degrees feel the need to lie about having a PhD? A PhD isn't a requirement for any of the board positions, it seems, so I would be interested in hearing her side of the story. She may have lied once, but her biggest mistake is not coming clean after that. Now she is being made an example of.

NA

Why the fuss? Her principal qualifications are valid - she is neither white nor male?

Is she not currently resident in NYC..... where will probably continue to market herself as a PhD

What a waste of an obviously bright mind. Reminds me of Brian Molefe, who could have done so much good for SA but chose to get involved with the Guptas.

The baseline is honesty and integrity. Qualifications only comes into play there after. If you are not honest, you can have 10 PhD’s, they are all irrelevant because, if you can’t be trusted and believed, you are useless as an individual.

Masuka, these people will never understand.

The massive irony in this whole situation is that, with her not one, but two undisputed Master's degrees, Leoka probably would have been deemed more than qualified enough (academically) for most of the positions she had held, if not indeed all of them. Of course, now that her integrity has been tarnished, she is can be considered disqualified on those grounds, but the burning question that remains is, why do it in the first place if it wasn't even necessary? Why jeopardise what must have been at least eight years of tertiary studies and hard work like that? Was it really just for that Dr title?

On the point of her gaining experienced, and having the skills, so she should continue to serve...may be it is the lack of performance which exposed her in the first place. The lie about the Ph.D. is just the nail in the coffin.

Will she pay back the money? Shareholders need to be told.

Additionally, under the National Qualifications Framework Amendment Act 12 of 2019, it is a criminal offence to knowingly provide “false or misleading information” about your qualifications, carrying a sentence of up to five years’ imprisonment.. Let me guess, nothing will happen..

It is so very cutting edge to have good teeth and a doctorate from the LSE. When all else fails, in years to come, get dentures (they also look nice).

Anglo American Platinum and MTN South Africa have both failed good governance practices in not adequately vetting her as a board member. Furthermore, will she repay all her directors' fees? The Institute of Directors also needs to take action against her and ensure she cannot be appointed a director of any board in future.

Doing her "sisters" a huge disservice.

TEST

Another ANC Cadre caught lying it makes you wonder how many others there are. Probably why the ANC are so desperate to cling to power in case someone else comes in and uncovers ALL of the things that they have been lying about

The biggest con of the era is the awarding of degrees without first having done a full bachelor's degree. It opens up all kinds of rot.

Cheat! My question is what other lies has she told?

Let's hope that any key decisions of which Leoka was part of, will be reviewed, and hopefully no bonuses paid, especially after this revelation.

Those companies that have HR departments, should also discipline/ prosecute their HR representatives for non-performance. They just don't get it that appointing people with exemplary qualifications who are in a position to make decisions or influence them (as in the case of the Presidential Council) screws everyone over. Disgusting!

A question off the topic, if I may please (I could not find an appropriate recent DM article to raise it). Are keeping the food prices and interest rates artificially high part of the agreement between government and business to ensure a guaranteed higher VA TAX income due to the dwindling PAYE and company tax bases thanks to load shedding and a weak economy, or is it just a case of the Consumer Council being too busy looting or coming loose at the seams like all other SOE's? Also, is the Reserve Bank punishing consumers unnecessary with their "monkey see, monkey do' policy by keeping interest rates high while waiting for the US to reduce theirs? Maybe some in-depth investigation by DM or OS will help the consumer understand that the higher food prices and interest rates are driven by genuine market forces and not just to finance the upcoming elections and bloated incoming parliament. Looking at the food prices, one can clearly see some price fixing and colluding by the big retailers on key household food items. Thank you.

Nothing will happen to her, the train Doctor guy nothing happened to him, Pallo Jordan nothing happened to him, how many bogus doctors are outed. South Africa has good laws in paper, but implementation has been our downfall

I don't understand why she had to embellish her C.V. because she is a highly competent and capable lady. The master's degree from a reputable university was quite sufficient to get into the boards. Now she has tainted her reputation.

...oh my goodness , when caught out for lying always a health issue - to avoid prison, fortunately and thankfully not terminal so far, like Zuma and Schabir Shaik .

When there are questions surrounding her academic achievement then he must act to preserve the system..WELL DONE

Please explain how nobody took the time to confirm if the PhD was achieved or not, this is what happens when colour and academic achievement becomes the base criteria.

Next stop....EFF?

Why, if an African woman has an MA and an MSc, as proven by Netcare, and is supposedly respected in the circles that she moved in, would she want to lie about a false PhD?? Boggles the mind! Surely she must have realised she would be found out. The lying is not a crime, but being found out is. Sad!

Will she be charged with fraud and be sentenced or is she too well "connected" ?

Were on the Board of MTN? Wonder who else is on their board

The presidential advisory group does not do vetting so how do they know the value of the advise given?

Here I am doing my PhD in history, aged 42 and I can only dream of the jobs she has had with her fong kong PhD.

I would like to wish Thabi Leoka all the best as deals with her health issues.

Whilst not condoning a false declaration of qualifications, one needs to ask: does / did the absence of a PHD qualification make her less effective as a board member?