South African businesses must become more careful when they deal with their customers and new employees.

There seems to be more than one avenue available to do a criminal record check. Record checks may be done through an Automated Fingerprint Identification Service (AFIS) which is the database that is searched/scrutinized during the AFIS criminal check.

The South African Police have a form known as the SAPS91A form which must be completed, and fingerprints may be taken at the local police station.

A criminal record check is not a “Police Clearance Certificate” and is not accepted by embassies/consulates for visa applications or immigration purposes.

If you are employing a new person, one should make it a condition that the prospective job applicant consent to going through this process.

You should insist on a certified copy of their identity document.  One must take great care, because in South Africa there are many people who are operating with false identity books.

It can be quite expensive to check somebody’s fingerprints and usually a little bit more affordable to do an identity number check.

There are also some private companies that offer this service, which are available on the internet. For example, Lexis Nexis offers this service. It includes criminal record checks; credit reports; matric and tertiary qualification verifications; identity verifications and fraud listings; driving licence and professional driving permit checks and FAIS comprehensive checks.

If you are employing a new person, I would suggest that you adopt a flexible approach because a previous conviction may be very old and for something that is not that serious.  You need to take all the circumstances into account.

It is a good idea to do a credit check on an applicant to see what their credit record is like and how many default judgments they have against their name. However, remember that they must consent to it.

If you are going to use a person to drive for you, it is very important to do a driver’s licence check.

If you need to check somebody’s qualifications, we suggest you approach the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA).

You must check the references if any person has applied for work with you.

Lastly, one must understand that if you are involved in any commercial transaction, you should follow a client due diligence procedure i.e. know your client. If it is a suspicious transaction, then you must follow an enhanced due diligence procedure. We can assist you to ask the right questions in relation to identifying who you are dealing with and applying your mind to whether you are dealing with a suspicious transaction, for example where money laundering is suspected.

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