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The Democratic Alliance (DA) calls on the Minister of Public Service and Administration, Collins Chabane, to immediately discharge the 640 officials in the Department who were found to have misrepresented their qualifications without delay.

This comes after senior officials of the Department exposed this information at this week’s Portfolio Committee of Public Service and Administration. The Department did however refuse to reveal the names and positions of the individuals who were found to have lied about their qualifications.

As such, the DA will be submitting parliamentary questions to ascertain who these public servants are and what positions they currently hold in the Department to determine the full extent of the fraud and if any senior officials are themselves holders of these fake degrees.

Furthermore, this raises serious questions about the verification systems that are used upon employment of our civil servants. The DA will also write to the Minister requesting a review of the human resource model used when hiring South Africa’s civil service so that this scandal can be avoided moving forward.

This latest wave of fake qualifications points to a deeply problematic disregard for the integrity of the civil service and for the law itself, and the Minister would do well to use this opportunity to send a clear message that fraudsters in the public service will be rooted out. In doing so he must meet this fraudulent conduct with swift and decisive action.

The South African taxpayer already forks out in excess of R400 billion every year for a bloated and ineffective public service. Getting rid of the fraudsters should be the first step in cutting this public wage bill and restoring integrity to the civil service.

Issued by DA