For many years, former espionage head and prisons chief Arthur Fraser pretended to be a graduate of one of the world’s most distinguished institutions of higher learning: the University of London. Winston Churchill, Queen Elizabeth II, Mahatma Gandhi, and Albert Einstein are among its distinguished graduates (and honorary alumni).
Fraser was a close ally of former President Jacob Zuma, who personally selected him to lead the State Security Agency (SSA). Fraser handled what was characterized as the SSA’s capture, subversion, and politicization when he quit the service to start his own private intelligence outfit.
A parallel reporting directly to Zuma was developed during his tenure as its leader. He unlawfully gave medical parole to Zuma (who was imprisoned for contempt of court) last year, in his last days as director-general of correctional services. Fraser’s decision was found “illegal” by the Pretoria High Court, which ordered Zuma’s return to jail. The case is now before the courts.
Fraser had to undergo vetting for all intelligence community and top government jobs requiring the highest level of security clearance. His academic credentials were almost certainly never confirmed, since it would have been revealed that he never attended the University of London. It is a criminal under the National Qualifications Framework Amendment Act to “falsely or fraudulently claim to possess a qualification.” A fine and/or prison term may be imposed for the offense.
IMPROVING RANKS – BUT NOT BY DEGREES
Not only did former President Nelson Mandela study law at the University of London through distance and flexible learning while imprisoned on Robben Island, but the University also conferred upon him an honorary degree. Perhaps it was for this reason that Fraser enrolled at that college for a BA in film and video production. Five years later, he claimed to have earned an honours degree in that programme.
Fraser returned to South Africa with his alleged University of London degree in hand and was assigned as an investigator to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission by the then-National Intelligence Agency (NIA). He then became the Western Cape’s head of the NIA and the head of the department of home affairs’ national immigration section. Fraser was appointed deputy director-general of operations for the NIA, afterwards renamed the SSA, in December 2005. He founded and controlled the primary agent network, a parallel intelligence web that spent R1 billion of taxpayers’ money and was implicated in fraud and corruption by a high-level panel investigation.
He quit in the midst of two investigations into the network, one by an internal SSA team led by an advocate and another by the intelligence inspector general. Fraser and a slew of network agents and supervisors were accused in both investigations for extensive exploitation.
FROM THE SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION TO CORRECTIONAL SERVICES – USING THE SAME C.V.
Fraser was appointed director-general of the SSA by Zuma in September 2016 after co-founding Resurgent Risk Managers with former NIA leader Manala Manzini. According to the SSA’s website, Fraser earned a BA (Hons) in film and video production from London University and a certificate of attendance from the Institute of Directors. He also completed several training courses, an executive management course in the United Kingdom, and led numerous delegations on liaison exchange visits.
Most likely by London University, the profile made reference to the University of London (as many others do when referring to it). The for the director-profile general’s on the SSA website could only have originated from two sources: Fraser himself or the curriculum vitae he submitted with his application for job. When President Cyril Ramaphosa relieved Fraser of his sensitive intelligence job and assigned him as commissioner of the department of correctional services in April, his profile was copied off the SSA website and placed into the department’s.
THE EXPOSURE OF FRASER’S FRAUDULENT CLAIMS
I started doing research for a sequel to The President’s Keepers in the first half of 2020. I met with numerous of Fraser’s former colleagues and acquaintances in order to develop a picture of perhaps South Africa’s most controversial public servant at the time. “You must verify his credentials,’ one of them said. He said that when he was living in London, he studied and obtained a degree. That is absurd. He worked in the nightclub industry.”
I have no idea if Fraser was a bouncer, but the inquiry established that he never stepped foot on the campus of the University of London. That institution does not provide a film and video production degree program. I befriended a British journalist in the 2000s who later became a professor. He verified that there is no record of an Arthur Joseph Peter Fraser (his full name) studying at the University of London.
I sent a media enquiry to Singabakho Nxumalo, the department of correctional services’ national spokeswoman, on March 4, 2020. “I’m doing a media investigation on Commissioner Fraser,” I wrote. Mr Fraser possesses a BA (Hons) in film and video production from London University, according to the department’s website. Could you kindly supply me with documentation and verification of this qualification from the department and/or Mr Fraser?”
I received no response from Nxumalo and wrote him again on March 12. He responded the following day, “My apologies for not responding sooner. Allow me to speak with the national commissioner and then return your call.” He was never successful at this. However, Fraser’s academic credentials on the department’s website altered abruptly in response to my inquiries. “In addition to a BA (Hons) degree in film and video production from the London Institute and a certificate of attendance…” reads his updated profile. To my mind, this was the ultimate acknowledgment of guilt.
Fraser obtained his academic aptitude overnight at the London Institute, not the University of London.
I contacted Nxumalo once again on March 19. I said the following:
Mr Fraser’s profile on the Department of Corrections’ website has changed since I last talked with you on March 4, 2020. He currently claims that he has a BA (Hons) in film and video production from the ‘London Institute’. No such institute exists in London.
“I searched the internet for the London Institute today and was unable to locate it. Mr Fraser may be able to educate me on [it]. I can provide you a list of all academic institutions in London that offer film and video production courses upon request. Among them are not the London Institute. As such, I would like to request that Mr Fraser give me with a certified copy of his BA (Hons) in film and video production from the London Institute.
“The British Universities and Colleges Admissions Service does not list a London Institute on its website. Neither does the UK Council for International Student Affairs nor the Study-UK British Council. While there is a London Film Institute, it does not grant university degrees and lacks even a website. London is home to 18 universities — of which the London Institute is not one.”
Nxumalo left a message unanswered.
On May 13 of last year, I contacted Nxumalo once again, followed by another two days later. He remained silent throughout. This week, we sent a similar series of questions to Fraser’s attorney, Eric Mabuza, requesting that he give proof of his client’s credentials and explain the alterations to his resume. We inquired if Fraser maintained throughout his civil service tenure that he had a BA (Hons) degree from London University or the London Institute.
Additionally, we needed to know whether he had presented verified degree certificates to the numerous state offices, the Social Security Administration, for which he had been required to get the highest level of security clearance. “As you may be aware, Mr Fraser is now embroiled in a legal dispute with you and the Naspers . Mr Fraser likes to resolve his issues via the judicial system and will do so,” Mabuza said.
THE CLUB OF MANUFACTURED CERTIFICATES
Other prominent South Africans who fudged their credentials include former SABC chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng (no matric), former arts and culture minister Pallo Jordan (no doctorate), former SA Airways chairman Dudu Myeni (no bachelor’s degree), former DA Western Cape leader Bonginkosi Madikizela (no BCom degree), and former Prasa chief engineer Daniel Mthimkhulu (lied about being an engineer and architect)
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Zuma man’s fake degree | Citypress (news24.com)
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