A college principal who insists on calling herself a professor, despite not being appointed one by a recognised university, has lost a legal bid to "permanently ban" the Sunday Times from publishing a report on her controversial use of the title.
On Friday, Bloemfontein high court judge Celeste Reinders dismissed with costs an application by Marianna Phutsisi, head of Motheo TVET (Technical & Vocational Education and Training) College in Mangaung.
Phutsisi said the report would prejudice her right to a fair public hearing in a pending defamation case she had begun against a third party.
The Sunday Times established that Phutsisi uses the title of professor in all her official correspondence after she was "conferred" with the title of "honorary professor" by the Academic Union Oxford (AUO) in the UK in December 2018.
The AUO is owned by Europe Business Assembly (EBA), which is renowned for "selling fake degrees", according to overseas media reports. It does not have any links with Oxford University.
The AUO's website states that "honorary professorships are normally unpaid but title holders can make voluntary donations to help support its programmes".
Matric exams quality assurer Umalusi and a former CEO of the South African Qualifications Authority (Saqa), Joe Samuels, were involved in an investigation in 2019 to find out if Phutsisi could use the title.
The probe was prompted by her request to use the title in work involving Umalusi after she was appointed a member of its council in August 2018.
Umalusi spokesperson Lucky Ditaunyane said a three-member advisory panel recommended that Phutsisi not use the titles of honorary professor or professor in any communication related to her work at Umalusi.
"Ms Phutsisi, who resigned from the council in February 2020, did not respond to the findings of the panel," he said.
Samuels confirmed that Umalusi had asked Saqa in 2019 to investigate whether the AUO was a legitimate academic institution that was entitled to award degrees and titles.
"We found that it was not a legitimate, recognised institution and therefore its awards would not be recognised by Saqa."
In an e-mailed response to the Sunday Times, the EBA said honorary titles bestowed by it on academics were not academic degrees and there were no fees involved.
"Normally, if the person wishes to attend the conference we charge a conference participation fee, which is varied and subject to individual negotiations," the statement said.
Phutsisi said in court documents "it must be placed on record that even my employer has never had a problem with my usage of the said title".
However, higher education department spokesperson Ishmael Mnisi told the Sunday Times that it was not aware of her using the title.
Phutsisi also said that "whenever I would correspond in formal communications, that will be clearly indicated that the said title is 'conferred' and not qualified".
Counsel for the Sunday Times, Ben Winks, whose instructing attorney in the case was Willem de Klerk, labelled Phutsisi's claim "a blatant lie". He said a recent memorandum from Phutsisi to staff contained no such qualification about the title.
It's not a university and it confers on people the title of professor if they pay enough money for it
— Counsel for the Sunday Times, Ben Winks
Winks said the EBA had been exposed as "an obscure Ukrainian-owned enterprise" run by a father and son from a house "that happens to be in Oxford".
"It's not a university and it confers on people the title of professor if they pay enough money for it."
Winks said that the "question looms large on the papers who paid for the award".
Phutsisi's lawyer, Lebohang Mokhele, said she was paying the legal costs from her own pocket.
He argued that "it would ... be unlawful for the [Sunday Times] to arrogantly want the publication of the article to be allowed, disregarding the applicant's interests and rights in her pending matter".
However, judge Reinders said Phutsisi had failed to prove that there was a real risk of prejudice to her right to a fair public hearing in her defamation case.
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