The interview went great. Now check if it was true.

01 Criminal & Biometric

Know exactly who you're putting on your floor, your site, or your client's premises — proven by fingerprint, not by trust.

Problem

A name and ID number tell you nothing about someone's criminal history. A check that only looks at the ID misses anyone using someone else's identity — and in South Africa, that happens more than you'd think.

Risk

A violence or theft conviction sitting quietly in a job of trust can turn into a CCMA payout, a rejected insurance claim, and — if you're PSIRA-regulatedPrivate Security Industry Regulatory Authority — the security industry's regulator. We verify company/juristic PSIRA registration. — a threat to your site, your contract, and your licence.

Solution

We run a fingerprint-based check straight against the SAPS Criminal Record Centre, using accredited AFIS (the national fingerprint system) technology. You get a government-recognised result back in hours, not weeks.

Outcome

A SAPS-issued, dated record you can point to, proving your hiring decision was based on verified facts — not just a name and a smile.

What's checked

02 Identity & Immigration

What's the point of the other twelve checks in this catalogue if the person you screened isn't the person who shows up for work?

Problem

Identity fraud is the base almost every other kind of workplace fraud is built on. Fake work permits are one of the most common fake documents found in the South African job market.

Risk

Build a whole verification file on the wrong person, and you've just verified a made-up story from start to finish. Hire someone who isn't legally allowed to work here, and you're exposed to fines under the Immigration Act — and possibly a shutdown of your operations the day an inspector shows up.

Solution

We check identity against the Home Affairs population register. Passports, visas, permits, naturalisation papers, and asylum documents are all confirmed directly with the people who issued them — not just looked at.

Outcome

You'll know for sure the person you screened is the person who shows up — with proof you can show anyone that they're legally allowed to work here.

What's checked

03 Credentials & Capability

In 2024, almost 8% of matric certificates sent in for checking turned out to be fake or altered. The only question is whether one of yours was.

Problem

Qualifications are the thing most commonly faked on a South African CV — and faking one isn't just embarrassing, it's a crime under the NQF Amendment Act (the law covering national qualifications), which says employers must check qualifications before hiring someone, not after a problem shows up.

Risk

In the case Umgeni Water v Naidoo, an employee faked an engineering degree and kept the job for eight years before it was discovered. The employer got back over R2.2 million — but only after carrying the risk of that fraud the whole time it went unnoticed.

Solution

We always check with the source: Umalusi (the matric certification body) for matric results, the national qualifications register and the college or university itself for tertiary studies, plus short courses, professional memberships, accreditation, and qualifications earned overseas.

Outcome

You stay within the law, you have a solid defence if fraud does turn up later, and you simply know for sure that what someone claimed on paper is what they can actually do.

What's checked

04 Professional Registration

Would you know if your engineer's ECSA registration lapsed last month? Most employers wouldn't — not until an inspection brings it up.

Problem

HPCSA, SACE, ECSA, SAICA, the Law Society — these are the bodies that register doctors, teachers, engineers, accountants, and lawyers. If someone's registration with one of them has lapsed, you won't see it on a CV, at an interview, or usually even on a casual reference call. Either the registration is valid, or it isn't — and a polished resume won't tell you which.

Risk

An unregistered professional working under your name means malpractice risk and possible fines, at the very least. In healthcare and engineering especially, it can mean someone is doing work they're no longer legally allowed to do.

Solution

We confirm registration status directly with the regulator — not just "is this person on a list," but whether there's a suspension, a condition, or a cancelled registration attached to their name.

Outcome

A dated confirmation, straight from the regulator, that backs you up the day someone asks why an unregistered person was doing regulated work under your name.

What's checked

05 Employment & Reference

References the candidate picked aren't proof of anything. They're a performance.

Problem

A reference the candidate gives you is never neutral — they chose that person, and that person knows exactly why you're calling. Inflated job titles, made-up roles, and reasons for leaving that were quietly hidden all sail through a casual reference call without much trouble.

Risk

Skip this step and you might hire a fiction — someone who can't actually do what they said they could, or someone who was let go elsewhere for the very thing you're about to find out the hard way.

Solution

We contact previous employers directly — HR and payroll, not the people the candidate hand-picked — and ask structured questions about performance, conduct, and disciplinary history, instead of accepting a vague character reference at face value.

Outcome

An honest picture of how this person actually performed for the people who employed them before you.

What's checked

06 Psychometric & Competency Assessment

Two candidates pass every background check clean. Six months later, one handles pressure well and one falls apart at the first serious complaint. A criminal record check will never tell you which is which.

Problem

Background checks confirm someone's past. They can't tell you if a candidate will cut corners, mishandle a difficult customer, or ignore a safety rule the one time no one's watching.

Risk

Put the wrong person in a high-trust or safety-critical role, and it usually goes wrong in one of three ways — fraud, a safety incident, or a resignation three months in. Each one costs you real money, and none of them show up on a clean record.

Solution

We use HPCSA-accredited (psychology-board approved) tests to assess honesty, thinking ability, personality, emotional intelligence, and job-specific skills — from simple entry-level checks right up to full executive assessments.

Outcome

Hiring and promotion decisions based on how someone actually thinks and behaves under pressure, not just what their CV says they've done before.

What's checked

07 Financial & Integrity Risk

Money troubles are one of the clearest warning signs of internal fraud — and unlike most warning signs, you can actually measure this one before you hand someone the keys.

Problem

An employee under serious money pressure, in a job with access to cash, payments, or stock, is a real and measurable risk. None of this shows up across an interview table, and none of it shows up in a reference call either.

Risk

Employees under financial pressure in money-related roles are far more likely to commit fraud — and the more access the job gives them, the bigger the eventual loss tends to be.

Solution

We use registered credit bureau reports, checks for insolvency (sequestration), bank account checks, and asset searches — always within the limits of the National Credit Act (NCA), and only for roles that genuinely involve financial trust.

Outcome

A solid, NCA-compliant reason for trusting someone with money, plus an early warning sign of the stress that often comes before fraud.

What's checked

08 Sanctions, PEP & Adverse Media

One sanctioned business partner or hidden politically-connected person can end a banking relationship.

Problem

It's not just about who you hire. It's about who you do business with. A supplier, agent, or partner on a sanctions list or a PEP (politically exposed person) list is already a compliance problem sitting in your files — waiting for a regulator or a bank to find it before you do.

Risk

Breaking sanctions rules brings fines, a frozen bank account, and reputation damage that usually lasts longer than the fine does.

Solution

We screen against the global sanctions, PEP, and high-risk databases used around the world — giving you documented, audit-ready checks that meet FICA (South Africa's anti-money-laundering law) requirements.

Outcome

A list of business partners you can hand to a bank or regulator the same day they ask — no scrambling to find out what's in it first.

What's checked

09 Fraud & Conflict-of-Interest

The biggest threat is usually already inside your business.

Problem

Internal fraud, hidden supplier relationships, and conflicts of interest don't show up on a standard pre-hire check. They surface later — most often in procurement and finance, where people have the most access and the least oversight.

Risk

A lifestyle that doesn't match a salary — like a procurement manager who has a supplier's number saved as a personal contact — is the pattern almost every fraud investigation finds after the fact. A lifestyle audit is designed to spot that pattern before the deal is signed, not during the investigation afterward.

Solution

We run SAFPS (fraud prevention database) checks, plus full Lifestyle Audits and Conflict-of-Interest investigations — comparing declared income against actual lifestyle, and uncovering staff-supplier links that were never meant to be found.

Outcome

Early warning of insider threats, with evidence ready for an audit, a disciplinary hearing, or a formal investigation.

What's checked

10 Driver & Vehicle Verification

The licence looks fine at the interview. It stays "fine" right up until the branded vehicle it's attached to is in an accident, and your insurer asks to see it.

Problem

A licence or Professional Driving Permit can be expired, fake, or quietly suspended — and a history of accidents doesn't announce itself across a desk.

Risk

An unlicensed driver behind a company vehicle means a rejected insurance claim, legal liability for your business, and possible loss of cargo. One uninsured incident can cost you more than a full year of screening.

Solution

We check licences and Professional Driving Permits directly, check accident history against eNatis (the national traffic records system), and confirm vehicle registration and ownership before the keys change hands.

Outcome

Drivers on the road who are properly licensed and insurable — and a documented record showing you did your part if an incident does happen.

What's checked

11 Social Media & Digital Footprint

What does a proper, POPIA-compliant online search find that a manager's five-minute Google search misses — and what does that quick Google search expose you to?

Problem

A person's public online activity can reveal behaviour no reference will ever mention. But casually "Googling" a candidate is inconsistent from one applicant to the next, open to bias, and can get you into legal trouble.

Risk

Hostile or discriminatory public behaviour reflects on your brand the moment someone joins your company. But if you search informally yourself, that same search can expose you to POPIA (privacy law) and discrimination claims that are entirely your problem to deal with.

Solution

We run a structured, POPIA-compliant search across four levels of depth — from a simple risk-scored summary all the way to deep-web and tone analysis for senior hires.

Outcome

A consistent, defensible view of someone's reputational risk, without the legal exposure that comes from searching on your own.

What's checked

12 Regulatory, Licensing & Compliance

The licence that quietly expired is the compliance problem you'll have to answer for.

Problem

Industry licences, tax status, and regulatory registrations lapse quietly — you usually only find out during an audit or an inspection.

Risk

An unlicensed financial adviser, an unregistered security company, or a non-compliant partner means fines, disqualification, and claims your insurer won't pay out on.

Solution

We confirm FSCA (financial sector regulator) accreditation, PSIRAPrivate Security Industry Regulatory Authority — the security industry's regulator. We verify company/juristic PSIRA registration. registration for companies, SARS tax-compliance status, and related credentials — checking directly with the authority that issued them, not just trusting a certificate on file.

Outcome

Documented proof that every licence you need is current — found before it becomes an audit finding, not after.

What's checked

13 Third-Party & Corporate Due Diligence

The supplier you didn't check is the tender you'll lose.

Problem

Your suppliers' risk is your risk, whether you've planned for it or not. A supplier with a fake B-BBEE certificate, a cancelled registration, or directors with something to hide puts your own compliance and your tenders at risk too.

Risk

A fake B-BBEE certificate can get your tender disqualified and get you blacklisted for years. A deregistered company means fraud risk and a contract that can fall apart under you without warning.

Solution

We check B-BBEE certificates, company registration and status, directorships, and tax compliance — applying the same careful checking we use for hires to your suppliers too.

Outcome

A supplier list you can defend, item by item, if your tender is ever audited.

What's checked

Full CIPCCompanies and Intellectual Property Commission — South Africa's company registrar. company registration verification is available as a quoted service — ask us when you request your proposal.