Hon House Chair, fraudulent qualification mongering has regrettably developed into a shameful trend that undermines the integrity of our institutions of higher learning and, ultimately, our country. Considering the prominent individuals concerned, South Africa could lose credibility.
The impact on the public and private sector is profound. Businesses and institutions are being defrauded by their paying for nonexisting knowledge and expertise, which results in fruitless and wasteful expenditure and, even worse, underperformance and lack of service delivery.
Not having a qualification is not a shame but a disadvantage, which can be overcome with hard work and, unfortunately, money. But lying about it is a crime that must face the full might of the law.
That is why the ANC welcomes the establishment of the specialist fraud prevention and detection unit within the SA Qualifications Authority, Saqa. The scope and scale of the work of the counterfraud strategy is huge because it includes approximately 10 million records. We wish Saqa everything of the best with this.
We want to implore state departments and other appointing authorities to ensure the validity of qualifications before appointments are made.
Those who have defrauded our nation by embellishing their CVs with false qualifications should be called to account, regardless of their standing or status in society. Thank you. [Interjections.]