The Nelspruit Serious Commercial Crime Court has sentenced six women to five years in prison for receiving SASSA social support grants for ghost children. Their sentences were fully suspended for five years on the condition that they were not found guilty of fraudulent activities during the suspension period.

THEY COLLUDED WITH HEALTH WORKERS

According to Lieutenant Colonel Magonseni Nkosi, spokesperson for the Mpumalanga Hawks, the convicted women, Nonhlanhla Madalane (36), Tswarelo Masuku (32), Nelile Shiba (29), and Prudence Nkosi (31), conspired with unidentified health workers to obtain fraudulent birth certificates for non-existent children. "They subsequently registered these fictitious children with the Department of Home Affairs and obtained birth certificates, which they used to claim child support grants from the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA)," Nkosi stated.

A DECADE-LONG SCAM

The criminal activities were brought to light by an anonymous whistleblower who reported the matter to the Public Service Commission. The commission referred the complaint to the provincial authorities, leading to an investigation by the Hawks' Serious Commercial Crime unit based in Nelspruit. The inquiry uncovered that the fraudulent activities had been ongoing since 2012 and continued until their discovery in 2023. The six women were arrested and subsequently released on bail in May 2023. Nkosi added that in addition to their sentence, they were mandated to repay the money to SASSA in installments. Madalane was ordered to reimburse R20,330.64, Masuku R20,238.23, and both Shiba and Nkosi R10,344.00 each.