Cape Town - The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Thursday called on the Minister of Public Service and Administration, Collins Chabane, to immediately dismiss the 640 officials in his department who were found to have misrepresented their qualifications.
The DA said this figure emerged at this week’s Portfolio Committee of Public Service and Administration, although, according to the DA statement, the Department refused to reveal the names and positions of the individuals who were found to have lied about their qualifications.
DA MP Joe McGluwa said: “As such, the DA will be submitting parliamentary questions to ascertain who these public servants are and what positions they currently hold in the Department to determine the full extent of the fraud and if any senior officials are themselves holders of these fake degrees.
“Furthermore, this raises serious questions about the verification systems that are used upon employment of our civil servants. The DA will also write to the Minister requesting a review of the human resource model used when hiring South Africa’s civil service so that this scandal can be avoided moving forward.
“This latest wave of fake qualifications points to a deeply problematic disregard for the integrity of the civil service and for the law itself, and the Minister would do well to use this opportunity to send a clear message that fraudsters in the public service will be rooted out. In doing so he must meet this fraudulent conduct with swift and decisive action.”
The DA said the “bloated and ineffective” public service was costing the public purse over R400 billion every year.
The DA statement comes after the South African Government said on Wednesday that it was determined to flush out public servants who misrepresented their academic qualifications.
“Government would, in partnership with the Quality Councils and South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) ensure that scrutiny and verification of qualifications are rigorously applied to protect the credibility, integrity and reputation of employers from people who possess fake qualifications,” Acting DG of the Department of Communications, Donald Liphoko, told the South African government news agency, SA News.
“The incidents of misrepresentation, which appear to be on the rise, will not be tolerated as they impact negatively on the reputation of the country, its institutions and the credibility of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF),” said Liphoko.
He said claiming qualifications that one does not have in the pursuit of employment opportunities using fake qualifications was fraudulent and constituted a criminal offence.
“We would like to caution people who are embellishing their CVs with fraudulent academic qualifications that the government is committed to rooting out such behaviour,” Liphoko said.
He urged all government departments nationally, provincially and locally, as well as government entities to guard against employing people with misrepresentations in their CVs. This will be done through the implementation of the public service regulations to deal decisively with applicants holding fraudulent qualifications.
South Africans were also are urged to be cognisant of unscrupulous higher education providers who are not registered with the Department of Higher Education and not accredited by official quality assurance bodies.
Liphoko reiterated the call by Minister of Higher Education, Blade Nzimande, for the establishment of a national fraud register and the proposed strengthening of key pieces of legislation to address fraudulent activity.
These interventions, he said, would serve to strengthen measures that the SAQA had already put in place to ensure a verification service for existing employees, prospective employees, and high-level appointments.
ANA