A Gauteng woman was arrested for allegedly submitting fraudulent teaching qualifications from the University of South Africa (UNISA).
The woman was arrested on Tuesday while she was allegedly submitting the fake qualifications at the South African Council for Educators (SACE) head office in Centurion, Tshwane.
The council said the woman had been teaching with an alleged fake Unisa qualification and a fake SACE letter.
SACE has warned people with fake teaching documents or qualifications to stay away from its offices or schools as measures are in place to arrest them on the spot.
“The matter was reported to the South African Police Service (SAPS) and South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) as it involves a qualification. The council requests all applicants with misrepresented documents to stop submitting them to SACE,” said SACE.
In another similar matter, a 41-year-old Mpumalanga woman, Ntombelanga Pretty Labane, was arrested for allegedly working as a schoolteacher using fake qualifications and earned over R1.2 million.
Allegations are that Labane does not have matric, although she holds a Bachelor of Education (B-ED) degree.
She allegedly used a fraudulent matric certificate to apply at the Walter Sisulu University, where she obtained her degree.
Previously, provincial Hawks spokesperson in Mpumalanga, Captain Dineo Sekgotodi, said Labane had been working as a teacher since 2016 until her arrest in 2024.
It is alleged that on September 1, 2016, Labane applied for a business and accounting teacher’s post at Hlelimfundo Secondary School in Amersfoort, under Mpumalanga’s Volksrust circuit.
Trouble started for Labane when a whistle-blower who knew that she did not pass matric, reported the matter to the Public Service Commission offices in Mpumalanga.
The matter was investigated by the Public Service Commission.
“After the investigations, findings and recommendations were made.
“The principal, circuit manager and the district office were asked about a fraudulent matric certificate, and they reported that they did not notice that it was fraudulent as they do not have detectors to verify the validity of the documents. The Public Service Commission referred the matter to the Hawks’ Secunda-based serious commercial crime investigation (unit) for further investigation in July 2022,” said Sekgotodi.
During further investigation, it was discovered that Labane does not have a Grade 12 certificate, and that she wrote matric four times – in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006.
In all her four attempts, the Hawks said Labane repeatedly failed matric.
“Labane then forged the matric certificate by putting the certificate number: 040 9517 7028 B which belong to another candidate called Nozipho Ritta Ngema. The results that were appearing on her fraudulent matric certificate were not her real results,” according to the Hawks.
Labane took her fraudulent matric certificate and applied to study at Walter Sisulu University whereby she obtained her Bachelor of Education (B-ED) degree.
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