Those applying for jobs are often told to be honest and forthright about their qualifications and work experience.
This is crucial for recruiters to ensure they hire people who have adequate knowledge for the job.
However, others choose to completely bypass this common courtesy and invent a whole new reality for themselves in order to make quick money.
Tebogo Makena, the ‘’Oracle Under The Sun’’ who charges from R25 000 to R2 million, wrote on his LinkedIn and Instagram that he holds a PhD in Sports Medicine from the University of Pretoria.
However, this could not be further from the truth. ‘’He never attended the university,’’ said the director of institutional advancement at the University of Pretoria, Rikus Delport.
Delport added that it is not a common occurrence for an individual to make such a claim without a shred of proof.
Makena has not had a good relationship with the law. He and another inmate were bust in 2017 while running an extortion operation from inside Odi Prison.
They allegedly pretended to be police detectives and called police stations in order to obtain information regarding automobile thefts and hijackings. They would contact victims and demand money in exchange for their automobiles' return.
He apparently lived a luxury lifestyle while in the facility by allegedly bribing the warden to bring him what he desired.
According to convicts who spoke to Pretoria News, Makena gushed about his clothes, jewellery and food he received.
However, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the National Qualifications Framework Amendment Act (hereafter referred to as the ‘’Act’’) in October of 2019, with the goal of preventing South Africans from misrepresenting their qualifications in their CVs.
According to MHi Attorneys, this act extends to those bragging on social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn. In essence, if you said that you have a qualification but this is found to be false, it can be considered a serious offence.
The amendments to the Act introduces punitive penalties for those found to be lying in their CV. The penalty for CV fraud is a fine or up to five years imprisonment.
‘’But the Act has also placed an administrative as well as a monetary burden on employers and educational institutions, skills development providers and quality councils, who before appointing and or registering any person, must verify whether any qualification of such person is registered on the national learners’ record database.
‘’Should it be found that the qualification is not registered, it must be referred to the South African Qualifications Authority for verification, who will conduct the verification at a prescribed fee,’’ said MHi Attorneys in a statement.
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