A senior official at Dihlabeng local municipality has been accused of falsifying her qualifications to land a plush job in the embattled municipality in eastern Free State.

Seipati Mavis Mabula, the director of corporate services in the municipality, allegedly submitted a fraudulent bachelor of administration degree that did not contain the day on which she received it nor did it contain a certificate number.

Her position sees her raking in an annual salary of between R900,000 to R1,1m.

A confidential report compiled by the office of the auditor-general which Sowetan has seen flagged Mabula's qualifications after he picked up discrepancies in a copy of a degree that Mabula provided to substantiate her application.

The management report dated June 30 2019, stated that Mabula's degree could not be validated.

Her responsibilities include developing organisational policies and procedures.

"I was also unable to confirm subjects successfully completed as the employee academic record was not included in the employee file," read the report in part.

The report indicated that the municipality's management failed to implement adequate validation controls for certificates submitted in support of academic qualifications.

Mabula told Sowetan that she obtained her qualification at the University of the Free State's Qwaqwa campus, during the time it was a satellite campus of the University of the North (now Limpopo).

Mabula said she obtained her degree through the correct channels and denied that she falsified her qualifications.

"It's a lie that my degree was obtained unlawfully. I studied at UFS, Qwaqwa campus. The institution told me that I owed R7,000 and needed to pay it before it can give me the transcripts that are outstanding," Mabula said.

She promised to send Sowetan her student number, along with a letter from the South African Qualifications Authority which indicated that her qualification was valid.

However, she made an about-turn and referred Sowetan to the municipality's spokesperson Tshediso Maitse.

The AG recommended that the accounting officer should implement procedures and processes for the validation of certificates presented by applicants and employees in support of academic qualifications.

Though Maitse told Sowetan yesterday he would respond to questions sent to him last week, he, however, failed to do so by the time of going to print.

A source in the municipality whose seat is Bethlehem told Sowetan Mabula was placed in her position without due process being followed.

The source, who asked not to be named for fear of victimisation, further said criminal charges should be laid against her for submitting fraudulent qualifications to land the high-ranking position.

"This municipality has been run into the ground... It's disappointing that nothing has been done," said the source.