South African Presidency Asks Economist Thabi Leoka To Prove She Holds A PhD From UK

The office of South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, has asked former Remgro director Thabi Leoka to clarify her qualifications after allegations emerged that she does not hold a PhD in Economics from the London School of Economics (LSE).

Leoka, who serves on various company boards, including Anglo American Platinum, has denied the reports and plans to take legal action. She told 702 in an interview on Tuesday:

 I do hold a PHD in Economics from the university. I did economic history and economics

She said the reason people have not been able to find her PhD record is because they have been using the wrong names for the search, she said. According to a government gazette published on 29 March 2018, Leoka did change her name from Bathabile Leoka to Thabi Leoka. She said:

They didn’t use my full name, without using the right names, the school wouldn’t verify or confirm a name that is incomplete or not on their system. I changed my name with Home Affairs.

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Leoka was appointed as an independent non-executive director of Remgro in March 2023 and chose not to be renominated for the position in December of the same year due to health reasons. She has also been a member of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council since 2019.

Commentators say it’s unfortunate that Thabi Leoka was asked by the South African Presidency to prove her PhD in Economics from the London School of Economics (LSE) after she worked as an advisor to President Cyril Ramaphosa for years. Zimbabwean journalist, Hopewell Chin’ono says the Presidency should have checked her qualifications before hiring her. He argues that the President has access to information through intelligence services, so verifying qualifications would be easy. 

The Presidency claims that the advisory council is a non-statutory body, and formal vetting is not required as the members volunteer their time and are not employed or remunerated by the state, The Citizen reported. However, in the interest of transparency, the Presidency has requested that Leoka address the issue regarding her qualifications.

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