Strict measures in place for matric certificates

Umalusi CEO Dr Mafu Rakometsi said forged matric certificates were a serious concern as this affected not only the credibility of Umalusi's work, but the trend was a worry for civil society too.

"Parents, honest learners who have put in the 12 years of hard work to obtain genuine certification, the Ministry of Basic Education, universities and employers all feel the impact of such criminal activity," said Dr Ramoketsi.

He said the security features included in the design of the certificate paper play a major part in the verification of the authenticity of a certificate.

The certificates are printed on watermarked paper, in much the same way as bank notes are.

Security features

"Other security features included in the design of the paper ensure that it measures up to international standards. Each certificate paper is printed with its own tracking number and is stored in a secured environment.

"Certificate paper is tracked and controlled in the process of personalising the certificate for the individual candidate," Rakometsi said.

He added that Umalusi continually explored the possibility of more security features, and these are added when new stock is ordered.

For the National Senior Certificate, National Senior Certificate (Vocational) and the General Education and Training Certificate (Adults), the following security features are visible on the certificate:

• When held to the light, the paper contains a specific watermark -"Drewsen";
  
• When looked at through a magnifying glass, the border displays the name of the Council continuously;
  
• It has a barcode which matches the certificate number,
  
• It has a specific certificate sequence number; and
  
• The national Coat of Arms appears on the top of the document.