UCT engineering student Ghalib van der Ross has given the institution a lesson over allegations that he plagiarised his ‘electricity supply expansion’ assignment, says a TimesLIVE report. Van der Ross was among 15 final-year students who were hauled before the university’s disciplinary tribunal after their lecturer suspected them of copying last year. The university refused to allow him to bring a lawyer to the hearing.

UCT insisted that he could only be represented by another student or a member of staff, insisting that the matter was not complicated and that the sanction – if Van der Ross was found guilty – would not result in expulsion. But Van der Ross sued the university in the Western Cape High Court to have the decision reviewed and set aside. UCT said another student had worked with Van der Ross on the assignment, when ‘there was a clear instruction that this was to be an individual submission’.

It was noted in court that the charges seemed to have ‘changed from plagiarism to collusion’, and the possible sanctions, on a guilty finding, included expulsion, rustication and community service. Acting Judge Hanri Loots overturned UCT’s decision and ordered that Van der Ross be allowed to be legally represented.

He also ordered the institution to pay the legal costs. ‘It is in the interest of justice that the disciplinary hearing proceed as soon as possible,’ said Loots.

Full TimesLIVE report

Van der Ross v UCT and Another