Cape Town – Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa says a proposal to deal with the problem of fake qualifications is being prepared and will soon be presented to Cabinet for approval.
He said this on Wednesday after a member of the National Council of Provinces asked him if government has at all considered the regularly reported incidences of persons with either none or fake qualifications in the public and private sectors, and the measures being taken to curb the practise.
The Deputy President told Members of Parliament that government has considered reported incidences of persons who misrepresent their academic credentials or those that fake qualifications.
“Such incidents do great damage to the credibility of the country’s education and training system. The Minister of Higher Education and Training [Blade Nzimande] is preparing a proposal for Cabinet approval on various mechanisms to address this problem.
“Further details will be available once Cabinet has considered and approved the proposal,” he said.
He said Minister Nzimande has already requested the South African Qualifications Authority to establish a national register to list names of individuals who have misrepresented their qualifications or who have invalid qualifications.
The Deputy President said it was important that the water-tight verification processes that are undertaken in the public service at national and provincial level are extended to other public institutions and entities.
He said instead of faking qualifications, South Africans should aspire to study further in order to be more qualified and to broaden their horizons in the career of their choice.
“We urge all public and private entities to make every effort to verify the qualifications of all prospective employees and directors, and to report any suspected fraudulent activity to the South African Police Service or the National Prosecuting Authority.
“We call on members of the public to ensure that they do not jeopardise their employment prospects or face criminal charges by misrepresenting their credentials or qualifications,” said the Deputy President.
National minimum wage
Deputy President Ramaphosa said, meanwhile, that significant progress has been made by the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) task team on the modalities of introducing the national minimum wage.
He said the NEDLAC social partners adopted the Ekurhuleni Declaration in November 2014 which said there should be a report-back on progress in reaching agreement on key issues by July 2015.
The Deputy President said in this regard, the Committee of Principals received a progress report on the work of the technical task teams of wage inequality and labour stability last month.
“The report outlined areas of agreement and issues that needed further deliberation. There is sufficient consensus, for example, on the broad definition of a national minimum wage for it to be referred to the legal drafting process,” he said.
Deputy President Ramaphosa said the Nedlac constituencies have agreed that:
- The national minimum wage shall be the legal floor, guaranteed by law below which no employee may be paid in South Africa.
- The collective agreements, sectoral determinations and contracts of employment may not make provision for a wage that is lower than the national minimum wage, but may vary wages upwards.
Some of the issues that require further discussion include the scope and application of a national minimum wage; the relationship between a minimum wage and other forms of wage setting; mechanisms for determining a national minimum wage and the actual level of a national minimum wage.
“Work is underway to gather evidence, through research and investigation, to ensure that the national minimum wage is set at a level that has a real and significant impact on inequality and poverty while ensuring no negative effect on demand for labour.
“The work involved in introducing a minimum wage is complex and multi-faceted and requires careful deliberation. The Committee of Principals has nevertheless agreed that this work should be concluded without undue delay.” – SAnews.gov.za
