A University of Johannesburg (UJ) PhD candidate, Norman Shoko, has been expelled for three years after being found guilty of plagiarism.
The decision comes after a four-year disciplinary process, which began in September 2021, when Shoko’s thesis was flagged for containing substantial plagiarized material.
The university’s plagiarism detection tool, Turnitin, revealed a similarity index of 45%, indicating that nearly half of Shoko’s work closely matched existing sources.
The disciplinary committee, led by chairperson MJ van As, concluded that large portions of the thesis were copied from other academic works, including those of Professor Craffert, without proper citation.
Shoko has vehemently denied the allegations and is contesting the verdict through his legal representative, Advocate Ebenezer Iheanyi. Iheanyi argues that the expulsion is excessively harsh, particularly given Shoko’s willingness to participate in academic integrity programs. Instead, he suggests that a more rehabilitative approach would be more appropriate.
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Furthermore, Shoko’s legal team has raised concerns about possible conflicts of interest during the disciplinary proceedings, citing a prior professional relationship between Van As and the external presenter that was not adequately disclosed.
Shoko, a Zimbabwean national, has a long history with UJ, having completed his undergraduate degree in 2009, followed by honors and master’s degrees in 2010 and 2019, respectively. He had registered for his PhD with the goal of pursuing postdoctoral research and had even approached the University of Pretoria to explore opportunities in April 2021, submitting his draft thesis as part of his inquiry.
The expulsion has left Shoko’s academic future uncertain, and his legal team is actively challenging the verdict, seeking a more lenient sanction and raising questions about the fairness of the disciplinary process.
