Use of fake A-Level, O-Level certificates on the high

Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare has reported an upsurge in the number of people seeking employment using fake certificates.

The officials said Cambridge "O" and  "A" Level certificates and various Polytechnic certificates are commonly used at they are easy to forge.

Many people have in the past been arrested for using fake certificates.

Speaking at a Community Market Share meeting hosted by the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare's Employment Creation Service Organisation (ECSO), Head of National Employment Services Division Velisiwe Ndlovu said many companies have reported the use of fake certificates.

"We have caught many people using fake academic certificates, especially Cambridge O and A Level certificates and various Polytechnic certificates as these are easily duplicated.

"We are currently seeking the police's help that they hunt down exactly where these copies are replicated so that the law deals with the culprits from the root," Ndlovu said without giving figures.

Ndlovu said companies  should stop employing from the streets but come to the ministry of labour offices to recruit registered job seekers.

"As a ministry we have a few agencies registered with us and employers should use those ones because they have been taught how to determine the genuineness of people's certificates and skills.

"Many a time you find that companies employ people who used fake certificates implying that the person passed O Level Mathematics or A Level for example, only to find out that the work they exhibit does not correspond with an A Level student," he said.