Fraud watchdog sends a warning to employers in South Africa

The Southern African Fraud Prevention Services (SAFPS) warns employers that employment application fraud has doubled since last year and advises due diligence when verifying qualifications.

Speaking to SABC News, Manie van Schlkwyk said the SAFPS had noted a major increase in the number of employment application fraud cases.

Employment application fraud is when Individuals applying for a certain job lie about the qualifications they have while often supplying a fake certificate.

“The SAFPS has noted a substantial 106% increase in the number of employment application fraud cases compared to this time in 2023,” he said.

Cementing the SAFPS concerns, the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA), in conversation with SABC News and other experts, noted that the faking of qualifications is an increasing problem in South Africa.

It said while there are many cases of fraudulent tertiary qualifications, the main one in South Africa is a fake matric certificate.

“This is because the matric certificate is the basic qualification or requirement needed for both work opportunities and university acceptance.

“This is what makes it a highly sought-after qualification in South Africa,” said SAQA COO Makhapa Makhafola.

Van Schlkwyk noted that the triple-digit increase could be a sign of the times, with many people having to come up with ways of increasing their employment prospects given South Africa’s cost of living crisis and high unemployment.

Interestingly, Eighty20’s latest Credit Stress Report for the fourth quarter of 2023 showed South Africans, on average, spend about half of their income on servicing debt repayments every month.

Concerningly, debt levels are the highest for the middle class, with 79% of income going to instalments, which is up by nearly 28% in just over two years.

Equally, it was bad news for South Africa’s employment data, as the unemployment sector saw its eighth consecutive increase in the last quarter of 2023, raising the official unemployment rate by 0.2 of a percentage to 32.1%.

Black Business Council CEO Kganki Matabane highlighted that another cause for the increase in fraudulent certificates is the relaxed stance taken by relevant authorities to impose the necessary penalties on those who lie about their qualifications.

“The financial incentives to commit this type of fraud currently outweigh the penalties for committing it,” said Matabane.

“The chances of being caught in South Africa are also in your favour, and this needs to change. As long as there are incentives, people will continue to do it,” he added.

Van Schlkwyk warned businesses to look at qualifications with a suspect eye and ensure due diligence is done when verifying such qualifications.

Matabane noted that while businesses have the responsibility to verify qualifications supplied in employment applications, he added universities also have to come to the party.

He said there needs to be an easier and less expensive way to check qualifications with institutions other than having to get into contact with the university directly, which is an administrative burden for many companies.

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