Afriforum says the Johannesburg High Court is set to hear its case requesting information from the University of Johannesburg pertaining to the alleged hijacking of solar panel technology patents on 6 June 2024.
PTiP was co-founded by Alberts in 2005 to commercialise the technology. It started patenting Alberts’ inventions in 2007. According to Afriforum, the hijacking of PTiP’s intellectual and commercial assets happened after Alberts’ technology was successfully commercialised in Germany and China. The university said none of the officials alleged to be involved in the crimes were still employed at UJ, although it did not state whether they were fired or left of their own accord.
“We are convinced that the information which UJ is refusing to provide will be damning in showing that various top management officials at UJ irregularly diverted thousands of rands and stole the IP,” Afriforum said.