Durban - The University of KwaZulu-Natal has issued a warning to parents and students to be on the lookout for scams that surface around this time of the year targeting young adults.
In a statement on Friday, UKZN’s executive director of corporate relations Normah Zondo said students and parents should be on the lookout for potential scams and fraudsters targeting young adults who had applied for tertiary studies.
Zondo said these scam artists pretended to provide help with regard to acquiring financial assistance, student accommodation, registration, and places in academic programmes.
She said the university did not charge for these services.
“The university is aware that there are unknown individuals claiming to belong to the (EFF Student Command) who are inviting students on to campus to assist them with late applications and walk-in registrations on all campuses.
“They are also threatening to burn some properties belonging to the university as a further incentive to lure victims. The EFF SC have confirmed that they have no knowledge of this initiative and have distanced themselves from this scam,” said Zondo.
Zondo warned that anyone found trespassing on and damaging university property would be prosecuted.
She said all registration processes had to be completed online from remote locations, as there would be no registration services and/or registration assistance available on any of the campuses. The registration link is https://registration.ukzn.ac.za/.
The university said the online registration system had been set up to cater for all aspects of the registration processes, including acceptance of offers, changes of mind, applications for readmission, counselling (academic, curricular and/or personal), financial clearance, registration for residence, and final academic registration.
“Students and parents are urged to be vigilant and ensure that they are dealing with bona fide university personnel in all interactions with the university. The public should be cautious so as not to become victims of opportunists,” said Zondo.
UKZN directed parents and students to the information available on the main university website (www.ukzn.ac.za).