SOUTH AFRICA'S CESSPOOL OF DEGREE/DIPLOMA FRAUD

South Africa has its share of public sector employees lying about their academic qualifications. It has been awhile since the likes of Pallo Jordan, Ellen Tshabalala and Mahau Pheko misrepresented their qualifications. Some fraudsters have the good sense to resign their positions, while Hlaudo Motsoeneng, SABC's COO, who lied about his qualifications, stubbornly refuses to do the right thing, aided and abetted by his bosses. In or about March, 2015, government undertook to flush out public servants with fraudulent qualifications. Whether it has done so is unclear. What is clear, however, is that public servants who have secured government jobs through fraud deprive opportunities for those who merit such jobs. These include bona fide university graduates who are increasingly unable to find employment. It is an issue of fundamental fairness requiring the government to unrelentingly root out and prosecute the fraudsters. Failure to do so negatively impacts the country's reputation, in addition to contributing to the 'brain drain'. The focus in South Africa has been centered on exposing fake academic credentials. But, there is more to the problem. One simply has to look at the pervasive prevalence of academic fraud in Russia, riddled with plagiarism, dissertation ghost writers, corrupt dissertation boards and faculty rubber-stamping stolen, or shoddy work. Affirmative action by the Russian government and a volunteer organisation "Dissernet" is exposing academic fraud using plagiarism-detection software. Authorities in South Africa must follow Russia's example in auditing and publicly exposing fraudsters. It will restore the country's tarnished image by closing growing qualification and academic fraud. A broad spectrum audit should commence with existing public sector employees. Expect job vacancy rates to dramatically increase, due to immediate resignations, public shaming and prosecution of those who achieved professional positions through dishonest methods. It is time to clean up the cesspool of academic fraud.