Three officials nabbed for corruption
SASSA issued a stern warning to corrupt officials .
KWAGGAFONTEIN – The stern warning issued by the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) against corruption seems to have fallen on deaf ears. It has been reported that three local employees of the agency, Mss Martha Ndala (54), Maria Ngwane (50) and Martha Thwala (42) were arrested last week and briefly appeared in the Mkobola Magistrate Court on charges of fraud and corruption. They were granted bail ofR2 000 each will appear again on May 5.
The provincial spokesperson for Sassa, Mr Senzeni Ngubeni, admitted that the level of corruption was high.”We are doing our best to deal with it. Most of the officials are taking advantage of the fact that the system is still new. They are also taking advantage of the fact that most elderly people are illiterate.” Ngubeni indicated that about
90 per cent of their employees in Mpuma-langa have been dismissed due to fraud. “This is not a playground for criminals. They never take us seriously, as was clear in this latest incident. We have already served the officials with suspension letters,” he concluded.
According to the report, the officials are alleged to have colluded with a community member to recruit clients as grant applicants. The middle man would then take the identity documents to process an application which would then be approved by the officials.
The middle man would inform the client to withdraw the money which would be about R3 600, paid in arrears. He would then take R3 000 to share with the officials, leaving the client with R600.
