FALSIFYING qualifications will lead to hefty fines and/or will land offenders in prison for up to five years after President Cyril Ramaphosa authorised the commencement of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) Amendment Act.
The bill was signed into law in August 2019 but its enforcement was delayed until Ramaphosa proclaimed October 13, 2023 as the date when it would come into operation.
According to the statute, a person will be guilty of an offence if they make or cause to be made a false entry in the national learners’ records database or the misrepresented or fraudulent qualifications register.
It will also be a criminal offence if a person is a party to the falsification and dissemination or publication of a qualification or part-qualification or the records of the national learners’ records database or the misrepresented or fraudulent qualifications register or if, with a fraudulent purpose, knowingly provides false or misleading information in any circumstances when required to provide information or give notice.
In addition, a person will be guilty of an offence if they falsely or fraudulently claim to be holding a qualification or part-qualification registered on the NQF or awarded by an educational institution, skills development provider, quality council or obtained from a lawfully recognised foreign institution.
Earlier this month, the Gauteng Department of Health opened a criminal case against TikTok sensation “Matthew Bongani Lani” for masquerading as a medical doctor.
Wits University publicly refuted his claim that he studied at the Johannesburg-based institution, while the Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA) also revealed that Lani was not registered as a medical practitioner, according to reports.
To make matters worse, the provincial Department of Education confirmed that Lani had never completed his matric, while Cambridge International College denied that he had completed his high school education at the institution.
Nosipho Damane of the SA Qualifications Authority (Saqa) told the Sunday Independent that the delay in the implementation of the act was due to various reasons not in the control of the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET).
These include the Covid-19 lockdown, engagements that had to take place in preparation for the act’s implementation as well as implementation challenges that were presented by certain sections.
Damane said the DHET proposed that the implementation or operation of the section of the act dealing with the referral of a qualification or part-qualification to the Saqa for verification and evaluation be deferred pending meaningful consultation between the authority and Higher Education, Training and Technology Minister Dr Blade Nzimande.
The consultations will be on the category of persons or entities that may be exempted from the provisions of the section and the publication of the exempted category of persons or entities in the Government Gazette.
”In the interim, the DHET will commence with the process of consulting with the (Saqa), the Quality Councils as well as other relevant stakeholders concerning the implementation of the provisions of the amendment act and identifying provisions therefore that need to be further regulated by means of regulations,” said Damane.
On the issue of penalties, she said fines or imprisonment or both was a criminal matter which fell within the purview of the courts after it had found a person guilty of any of the offence(s) listed.
Damane said a statute or act was presumed not to operate retrospectively unless such was the clear intention of the legislature.
”The general principle of interpretation of statutes is that a statute is construed to operate prospectively unless the legislative intent that it operates retrospectively or retroactively clearly appears from its express language or the clear purpose of the act or by necessary or unavoidable implication,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Merafong Local Municipality has been forced by Acting Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka to have its human capital manager Nonceba Mbilini's contract terminated after it was found that she did not have matric and a bachelor's degree.
Gcaleka found that Mbilini was shortlisted, interviewed and appointed by the municipality despite not having a matric certificate and the relevant bachelor’s degree or equivalent tertiary qualification at NQF level seven, at the time she applied for the position.
She ordered the municipality to table her report before the council for deliberation and obtain approval for the appropriate course of action to address Mbilini’s irregular appointment, including pursuing a judicial review, as provided for in the Labour Relations Act (LRA).
The LRA empowers the Labour Court to review any decision taken or any act performed by the state in its capacity as employer on such grounds as are permissible in law.