Umalusi to work with cops on matric fakes
A SCHOOL regulatory body will in future collaborate with police to identify, arrest and prosecute fraudsters guilty of fabricating matric certificates.
This comes after Ashly Akua posted on Facebook that she could provide people with a fake matric certificate at a cost.
And the Council for Quality Assurance in General and Further Education and Training, Umalusi, said it would pursue criminal charges against Akua.
She posted on the New Khupha Lento Ikutyayo (what is bothering you) Part 3 Facebook page about the sale of fake matric certificates with the simple message, “if you are interested, contact me and I will make it worth your while with an affordable price”.
According to Akua’s Facebook profile, she is currently employed as an administrative assistant at the North West department of public works, roads and transport and was formerly employed as an artisan in the department’s Eastern Cape offices.
However, North West department spokesman Matshube Mfoloe and Eastern Cape department spokesman Mphumzi Zuzile said they had thoroughly checked the relevant HR departments and there had been no record of Akua ever being employed by either of the departments. Akua failed to respond to messages this week. But Umalusi spokesperson Lucky Ditaunyane showed no hesitation in illustrating the seriousness of the situation, stating Umalusi usually received an average of two reports of fake certificates per month.
“Umalusi will institute an investigation in collaboration with the Crime Stop Division of the South African Police Services regarding this matter.
“The executive management of Umalusi recently had a meeting with the acting national commissioner of SAPS to discuss this matter,” Ditaunyane said.
“One of the resolutions was that SAPS would designate specific individuals to work directly with Umalusi. We are also in the process of rolling out posters of our security features to police stations across the country.”
He said fraudulent certificates could be identified through the signs like that they were usually printed with a deficient background, the serial numbers were incorrect and they lacked watermark features.
“We are always careful not to divulge all the security features of our certificates for obvious reasons … But when held to the light, the certificate paper shows the unique Umalusi watermark,” Ditaunyane said.
“Also when the border is viewed through a magnifying glass, it is made up of the word ‘Umalusi’, printed repeatedly.
“The certificate contains a rectangular block filled with the candidate’s information in the background. There are several other features which only appear on originals.”
There was no response from police spokeswoman Major-General Sally de Beer at the time of writing. — DDC