Mega KZN fraud bust

Durban - A KwaZulu-Natal woman is believed to be the mastermind of the country’s biggest social grant fraud syndicate, with most of the illegal grant withdrawals seemingly made in the province.

Police have also raided a house on the province’s South Coast where official equipment and software were being used to produce fraudulent social grant cards.

Neliswa Msimango, 46, and Msali Ngcobo, 30, both from KZN, were among 15 arrested by the Hawks, police crime intelligence, South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) fraud management and compliance department and a private auditing and accounting firm.

Sassa is a national entity run by the national Department of Social Development.

Msimango was arrested near Cape Town International Airport on Friday and was expected to apply for bail in the Bellville Magistrate’s Court in the Western Cape in two weeks’ time.

Among the 15 who were arrested last week and appeared in court, are eight Sassa officials and two Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) employees.

According to Hawks spokesman, Major Robert Netshiunda, another CPS employee handed himself over to police on Tuesday.

Netshiunda said this syndicate operated inter-provincially and had allegedly defrauded Sassa of more than R2.3 million involving more than 200 social grants.

“This syndicate forms part of a broader ongoing criminal investigation involving more than 4 776 fraudulent social grants, amounting to more than R34.7m,” he said.

Netshiunda said their investigations showed that Msimango was allegedly instrumental in introducing the different syndicate members to each other.

Their investigation covered Gauteng, KZN, Eastern Cape and the Western Cape. He said more than 500 cases of identity fraud related to fraudulent social grants had been uncovered.

While Msimango and the others were being arrested on Friday, a joint task team in KZN had swooped on a house in Scottburgh that had been operating as an illegal Sassa office. This is where Ngcobo was arrested. He appeared in the Scottburgh Magistrate’s Court and was expected to make a formal bail application on Monday.

Netshiunda said fraudulent identity documents were apparently being manufactured at the house.

He also said they were equipped with everything needed to produce a social grant card, including printers, electronic storage devices, bank cards, Sassa cards and computers with Department of Social Development software.

Other equipment found included laptops, scanners, copying machines, identity documents, copies of identity documents and ID templates.

Netshiunda also confirmed that further arrests in KZN were possible. “We have arrested people from KZN already and we cannot rule out the possibility of arresting more. Most of the withdrawals were done in KZN,” he said.

Msimango, Nosipho Majola, Ntsikelelo Mphekana and Nombuyiselo Sigcua are expected to apply for bail on June 13 in the Bellville Magistrate’s Court.

CPS employees Asanda Cebisa and Elliot Jiligisa were expected to apply for bail on July 7 in the Bellville court.

The eight Sassa officials – Manana Letsoha, Matshidiso Mosupa, Tebogo Letebele, Nomvuselelo Phoyana, Nontsikelelo Phoyana, Keamogetswe Poswayo, Mavis Padi and Moses Nomcoyiya – were released on R3 000 to R5 000 bail.

In Cape Town on Tuesday, Sassa officials briefed the provincial legislature’s standing committee on Community Development on unlawful and fraudulent deductions.

According to the Western Cape Department of Social Development, Sassa was criticised for persisting instances of illegal grant deductions.

From their data presented, the agency had in the 2015/16 year received more than 18 807 illegal deductions on social grants.

“It is the (department’s) view these figures are not representative of the true extent of the problem, and Sassa has conceded this point during the committee meeting. There is clearly under-reporting of cases. For example, the numbers of April 2016 alone, already saw Sassa receive 23 133 enquiries,” said Western Cape Social Development Minister, Albert Fritz.