The law is getting stricter by the day and now wants to target those who cheat when applying for work.
A new law that is now before President Cyril Ramaphosa to sign could see South Africans going to jail for lying on their CVs.
Those found guilty of lying could spend up to 5 years in prison.
The bill is called the ‘National Qualifications Amendment Bill‘.
SAQA or ‘South African Qualifications Authority’ will be tasked with monitoring the qualifications of each and every citizen in the province.
The bill was recently passed by the National Council of Provinces.
The bill also aims to publish a “name and shame” list of those who will lie on CVs.
But the bill won’t cover the likes of Hlaudi Motsoeneng, the controversial ex-SABC boss who lied about having a matric certificate, because it is not retrospective, meaning it doesn’t deal with past events.
But those who will lie after Ramaphosa has signed it – probably after the 8 May 2019 general elections, will definitely be arrested and jailed.
In the past 10 years, close to 2000 fraudulent applications were reported nationwide, while between October and November 2018 a string of fake qualifications and lies in CVs were reported, according to IOL.
According to the bill, qualifications presented for study, employment or appointment will be referred to SAQA for verification or evaluation.
All qualifications must be captured on the SAQA database and any person who fraudulently claims to have received a qualification is guilty of an offence, and “is liable to a fine or imprisonment for a term of no longer than 5 years, or both a fine and such imprisonment”.
(edited by ZK)
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