‘Hundreds of charges’: Sassa fraud case is bigger than you think

The case against five South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) accused of fraud has been rolled over to Tuesday as more charges and arrests are expected.

Three of the suspects were arrested on Friday at Sassa’s Johannesburg local office for suspected fraudulent activities. The fourth suspect was arrested at her residence in Soweto, while the fifth suspect surrendered to the police on Monday.

The employees, Phumzile Dlamini, Paul Bones, Phumelele Myeza, Keamogetswe Ledwaba and Phiwe Mkhuzangwe, appeared in the Lenasia Magistrate’s Court on Monday on 52 charges.

There, the court heard that the state had brought “hundreds of charges” against the accused and that more arrests were imminent.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane said more than 1 300 more charges were added against the suspects.

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As a result, the defence requested a postponement until tomorrow.

“They added another 52 charges, so the defence was not ready. They were quite surprised and could not cover all the charges, so they requested a remand. The lawyers involved with the first four accused were only aware of the 52 counts, they were not aware of these additional hundreds of charges that are now being added. I’m not sure if they will be ready because they were focusing on 52 charges,” said Magistrate Maggie Van Der Merwe.

Arrests

The Sassa employees joined four other suspects arrested in February, bringing the total number of suspects arrested to nine.

They are allegedly linked to the more than R260 million stolen through fake Sassa cards.

Sassa employee arrests

Sassa said it was working closely with Saps.

“This is part of the agency’s ongoing work, directed by the Minister of Social Development Nokuzola Tolashe, to clamp down on fraud and corrupt activities in all Sassa offices across the country,” said the agency.

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“The arrests in the Johannesburg local office come after similar arrests were made in an office in Idutywa in Eastern Cape recently.

“Sassa will not rest until all the bad apples in the system are cleansed to ensure an efficient and dignified organisation that will serve its beneficiaries with integrity.

“In addition, Sassa appeals to and encourages members of the public to work together with the agency and report grant fraud or corruption.”