The University of KwaZulu-Natal has clarified that violence researcher Mary de Haas holds no employment or professorial position at the institution following her parliamentary testimony regarding alleged criminal infiltration within police services. Corporate Relations Executive Normah Zondo confirmed that de Haas retired from the former University of Natal in 2002 as a senior lecturer in social anthropology and currently serves only as an unpaid honorary research fellow in the School of Law.
Lawmakers questioned de Haas about her credentials after she appeared before an ad hoc committee investigating police corruption claims, where she advocated for dissolving the Political Killings Task Team over alleged misconduct. Members challenged her reliance on unnamed sources and lack of formal security training, though she defended her decades of experience monitoring violent crime in KwaZulu-Natal. The university declined to address her specific testimony while emphasizing her independent research status.
Lawmakers questioned de Haas about her credentials after she appeared before an ad hoc committee investigating police corruption claims, where she advocated for dissolving the Political Killings Task Team over alleged misconduct. Members challenged her reliance on unnamed sources and lack of formal security training, though she defended her decades of experience monitoring violent crime in KwaZulu-Natal. The university declined to address her specific testimony while emphasizing her independent research status.
