Professor Viktor Verijenko, the man who supervised the thesis submitted by Chippy Shaik for his 2003 doctorate — which was allegedly largely plagiarised — yesterday tendered his resignation as head of the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) School of Mechanical Engineering.

Verijenko, who is on a year-long sabbatical in Australia, sent correspondence to the university’s leadership indicating his intention to resign. It is not clear what reasons he gave.

UKZN spokesman Professor Dasarath Chetty yesterday could not confirm whether Verijenko’s resignation has been accepted. However, he said a hearing into the allegations is on the cards.

According to an investigation, Verijenko, apparently a friend of Shaik, and his colleague Professor Sarp Adali, supervised the thesis, which featured work from other authors without citation or acknowledgement. Furthermore, it is believed the thesis is riddled with fundamental errors.

Verijenko was quoted yesterday as saying: “Dr Shaik’s work was of the highest quality and it was confirmed by internationally-acknowledged adjudicators”.

Chetty yesterday said UKZN has not come to a conclusion. However, a number of the allegations levelled against Shaik and the two professors have been substantiated, and the thesis has to be probed, he said.

The university’s leadership will decide by the end of the week on a date for the hearing. Chetty said parties will have an opportunity to respond to allegations in front of experts at the hearing.

He added that UKZN cannot take action against Shaik because he is not a member of staff, but that Shaik might be called to testify at the hearing.

Chetty said it would be unfair to “jump the gun”. If allegations prove to be true, the doctorate will be revoked.

He said that the university will follow due process while remaining committed to good governance and academic integrity.

Meanwhile, the Shaik brothers have labelled the reports in the Sunday Times, which revealed the alleged plagiarism, as another attempt to cast them in a bad light. Yunus Shaik said the reports were deliberately timed to be released a day ahead of his brother Schabir’s Constitutional Court appeal to set aside his fraud conviction and sentence.

Yunus was quoted yesterday as saying Chippy was a co-author of the journal articles he is accused of plagiarising, and therefore had a right to use material from them in his own thesis.

Chippy Shaik, who was the country’s chief of arms procurement and is currently being investigated by German authorities for allegedly receiving a R21 million bribe by arms manufacturer ThyssenKrupp, has not responded to the allegations.

Chippy Shaik could not be reached for comment as it was unknown where he was. Yunus said his brother’s whereabouts are a private matter.

With acknowledgements to Nivashni Nair and The Witness.