"Cosatu Free State has learned with horror the news that some students were discovered having two sets of audit module question papers at the University of the Free State. What is outlandish and unacceptable is the fact that the Afrikaans paper had answers and the English version did not have answers‚" the union said.

The union has labelled this incident as racist.

“This is naked racism‚ which must be fought and defeated once and for all. This is how these white institutions promote white supremacy through cheating‚ and keep Africans outside the strategic sectors of the economy of the country. We are calling for a serious investigation of this incident.”

UFS spokesperson Lacea Loader described the incident‚ which happened on the Bloemfontien campus‚ as a mistake on the part of the lecturer involved.

“A test was distributed in a class in which the answer to one of the questions was included in the Afrikaans version‚ while it was excluded in the English version.

“The matter was investigated and it was decided that the written test will be set aside and a new set covering the same scope will be set for all students; the new test will be subject to external moderation; external moderation of tests in the particular department will take place until the end of the year‚” Loader said.

She added: “In the process of revising the papers‚ the lecturer made a mistake and did not remove the guidelines for both the English and Afrikaans versions.

Nonetheless‚ the university management has decided on a disciplinary process involving the lecturer concerned given the seriousness of what happened."