Not many of you know but I have a PhD, yup a bona fide PhD from Missouri West University - in Hypothetical Mathematics. So in effect I am "Dr" Hodson and from now on I want to be known as "Dr" Hodson or "Doc" whichever takes your fancy.
Fancy is fairly close to fantasy, and this is what "Dr" Pallo Jordan has been weaving for the last 50 odd years. For those who are not in the know, Doc is an ANC heavy-weight with serious struggle credentials. So serious in fact, that he felt it necessary to - how should I say - "flesh out" his CV with certain qualifications that he never actually attained!
Now the Doc didn't change a "C" into or "B" or tack on a few courses that he never attended - No Sir. The Doc claimed credit for a post graduate degree from the London School of Economics or the "LSE" as it is otherwise known! And then - just for good measure - cranked out a fictitious PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the States. I mean talk about aiming for the stars in the degrees department.
Unfortunately though the cat is now firmly out of the bag; it is now using the "Doc's" mortar board as its new scratch pad. A local South African rag did a deep dive into Doc's background which involved calling the admissions office of said institutions to confirm Doc's degrees. (Proper investigative journalism.) Both offices had no record of Doc attaining these qualifications - and in the case of the LSE had never actually heard of him!
I ask myself why Doc chose such a high profile school - I mean if he had chosen UmKethyutwe Technikon he would have been better off as it would no longer be in existence (its coffers long bled dry by some ANC cadre) and therefore there would be no pesky admissions officer to unzip the bag.
Since Doc has been unmasked as a man who in fact has absolutely no formal education whatsoever, he has gone into hiding (with his cat). (Julius Malema must be grinning like a cheshire cat - more egg on the face of the ANC and he can at least point to his "E" for woodwork as evidence of his academic background.)
Doc has however said "sorry" for his deception and resigned from parliament. He has also "offered" to relinquish his seat on the ANC Executive, but my bet is that the powers-at-be won't accept his resignation; after all the ANC doesn't have a problem with liars and cheats - look no further than "No 1" as evidence of that!
Yours in doctoral splendour....
"Dr H"