In a report to Parliament, the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies has revealed that the R89 million stolen at Postbank included money for social grant beneficiaries. The KPMG investigation was initiated following confirmation by the Auditor General of South Africa in her 2021 report, which detailed fraudulent activities at the Post Bank.

MATTER HANDED TO HAWKS

The Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Solly Malatsi,  confirmed that he has referred the forensic report on governance and financial breaches at the Postbank to the Hawks for further investigations. "The report indicates that Postbank suffered financial losses of close to R89 million due to fraudulent activities between 2021 and 2022. What makes this cash theft even more repugnant is that some of this money was stolen from vulnerable social grant beneficiaries and ordinary South Africans who were saving for a better future," he said.

ACCOUNTABILITY 

Malatsi said they will use the full might of the law to fight anyone who robbed citizens of their money. "I expect decisive action to ensure that public entities are run ethically and with integrity, for the benefit of our citizens, and not criminals." The Ministry has also instructed the Postbank Board to ensure that the recommendations contained in the KPMG report are implemented. The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) beneficiary payment at Postbank was phased out at the end of March this year. In a joint statement last year, Postbank and Sassa said they would phase out all physical cash payment points and grant cash withdrawals within Post Offices. The process started in January and ended on 31 March this year. The decision was made as part of a strategy to decrease cash-in-transit heist at the Post Office.