A former University of Johannesburg (UJ) SRC member is accused of scamming more than 30 first-time applicants and returning students at the institution.

A female student is one of three students who told Sowetan that former SRC member Njabulo Mbele stole their money after giving them bogus student numbers and acceptance letters.

The three students said they received threatening phone-calls from Mbele and his friends and wished to remain anonymous for their safety.

According to the students, an estimated 40 of them have complained about Mbele taking their money for fraudulent help in first year registration as well as "helping" failed students re-apply to UJ.

"When I logged in a few weeks later with the student number he gave me, the on-line application said my student number was invalid - that it was false," she said.

Another student said Mbele was recommended through a mutual friend as a person with connections with faculty registration officers within the university, to speed up the registration process. "He registered me for the wrong courses and that's when I started thinking this was shady."

In total , the three students said they paid Mbele R7500.

In an interview with Kaya FM, Mbele denied being paid money. The blame, he said, was with a person "inside the university".

Speaking to Sowetan, Mbele insisted he received no money and that the university official he liaised with has "vanished off the face of the earth".

"I am highly shocked by these allegations. I did help two students since 2014 but I don't know about any other students," he said.

He also claimed to have no knowledge about the fake acceptance letters, which Sowetan has seen, nor the threatening phone calls the students said they received.

appasamyy@sowetan.co.za