"No. I said no. I'm not saying anything. Don't you understand English?"

This was the response of University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN)vice-chancellor Professor Malegapuru Makgoba when he again refused to comment on the latest allegations to rock the university: that Chippy Shaik had plagiarised the work for the doctorate he received from the institution.

The latest allegations come after a number of scandals at the university about the quality and authenticity of its degrees.

Shaik risks losing his doctorate

According to a report on Sunday, it was alleged that Shaik had plagiarised more than two-thirds of his mechanical engineering PhD thesis in 2003 at the former University of Natal in collaboration with a group of world-renowned academics.

Shaik risks losing his doctorate and the UKZN professors who supervised his thesis, Professor Viktor Verijenko and Professor Sarp Adali, face dismissal.

Shaik's brother Mo believes this latest scandal has conveniently come up on the eve of Schabir Shaik's hearing of his petition to the Constitutional Court and is an attempt to malign the Shaik brothers and influence the minds of judges and the public.

"So, as to coincide with that hearing, an allegation is now made that a thesis submitted by Shamim (Chippy) Shaik in 2002, for which he was awarded a doctorate, is flawed on account of plagiarism," said Mo Shaik.

UKZN student representative council president Sandile Phakati has expressed concern that the university senate had not had the chance to discuss the matter and referred it to the institution's Higher Degrees Committee.

Phakati, also a senate member, said he received an email about the matter on May 18 from Professor Isobel Konyn, acting vice-chancellor, which stated that the university's integrity had again been brought into question by an "outside agency".

"The university has conducted its own investigations and they have foundation.

"The university processes were properly followed but the problem appears to rest with a particular staff member," said Konyn.

"You can be assured that a great deal of effort has been made to limit the damage, but equally obvious is the fact that there will be some damage," she stated.

Phakathi said: "It is dangerous for us to make such conclusive statements only to regret them after proper investigations.

"The university is undergoing a tremendous litigation process from staff and academics, so it will be irresponsible for us to enter the game of naming and shaming people without following procedure."

He was determined that the SRC follow the matter up with the senate and "unashamedly raise the reckless behaviour of senior management for discussing these issues with the media while university structures have not made any impression on them".

Chippy Shaik's paper was entitled "Refined Theory of Laminated Anisotropic Shells for the Solution of Thermal Stress Problems" and was co-written with Verijenko, Professor Theodore Tauchert at the University of Kentucky in the States, and Professor Pavel Tabakov at the Durban University of Technology.

This article was originally published on page 3 of Pretoria News on May 21, 2007

With acknowledgements to Amelia Naidoo and Independent Online.