Cheating in university has a tendency of repeating itself later in life, former education minister Kader Asmal said on Tuesday.

He told a spring graduation ceremony at the Durban University of Technology that there was a shorter and sharper meaning to plagiarism. It was called "cheating".

"This practice of cheating does not stop here at the college level. Dishonour has a tendency to repeat itself in later life," Asmal said.

"Why else would adults copy whole theories for a book from another, or invent stories about a war? Why would supervisors and students steal somebody?s work for their thesis?"

He warned students that when one relied on another person's work, cheating would become a habit.

Asmal said integrity was not limited to teaching and learning, and that moral principles should pervade all aspects of one's life.

He said students had a right to protest against poor conditions but that this did not mean becoming violent and destructive.

"There must be respect for public property and zero tolerance for anyone who destroys such property or interferes with learning, ostensibly for some high purpose of political protest," he said.

"You must count yourselves privileged to be enjoying the fruits of freedom, and to have benefited from an education which only a small percentage of our young people enjoy."

Asmal asked students to lead the way in opposing discrimination and xenophobia.

Close to 800 students received qualifications at six faculties at Tuesday's ceremony.