One in eight CVs could be problematic – expert

A FLOOD of forged and fraudulent qualifications is being experienced in South Africa.

And culprits include officials in both the government and the private sector. With more than 1700 cases of employee fraud reported last year, job seekers have been warned against lying about their qualifications, as they could risk jail time or get criminal records.

In the Eastern Cape, The Herald revealed that Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University's former dean of arts and head of the family studies unit, Professor Velile Notshulwana, was under investigation for alleged CV fraud.

Meanwhile, verification agency iFacts chief executive Jenny Reid said when caught, most perpetrators laugh it off, claiming it was an oversight or a mistake when the hard reality was that they had committed an act of fraud for which they could spend time in jail, or at the least, end up with a criminal record".

The Labour Department's Southern African Fraud Prevention Service executive director, Carol Mcloughlin, said 1751 cases of employee fraud were listed on its fraud database last year.

Qualification Verification Services chief executive Danie Strydom said while some candidates fudge their qualifications, another problem concerns forged degrees and diplomas available on the internet.

Strydom said about 13% of qualifications were problematic. - Zandile Mbabela