Johannesburg - Job seekers should be wary of companies or agents charging fees for possible employment, the labour department said on Friday.
"No prospective employer can demand payment for a job offered," chief director Thembinkosi Mkalipi was quoted as saying in a statement.
"Nowhere in the Basic Conditions of Employment Act is there provision for a job seeker to pay before being offered a job."
The department said such scams were growing as bogus agents took advantage of the unemployment rate in the country.
In some cases the fraudsters placed adverts in the media, especially radio. Mkalipi said members of the public who were asked to pay for possible employment should report the cases to the department's labour centres.