Two Mpumalanga ‘teachers’ found guilty of fraud after using fake qualifications

Two women who taught at schools in Mpumalanga for nine years, did so without any qualifications.

On Tuesday, the Volkrust Regional Court found Sibongile Rose Khuzwayo, 50, and Nonjabulo Bahle Mabuza, 47, guilty of fraud and sentenced them to 10 years behind bars, wholly suspended.

Mpumalanga Hawks spokesperson Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi said, on the basis of fraudulent qualifications, the Department of Education employed Khuzwayo and Mabuza as teachers in July 2006.

“In 2015, nine years into their unwarranted employment, it came to light that there were teachers in and around Gert Sibande District [who were] employed using fraudulent tertiary qualifications,” Sekgotodi said in a statement.

“In an effort to address the concern, the department issued a circular, calling upon all educators to submit their qualifications for authentication.

“It was during this process that the pair failed to comply and instead, opted to resign.”

The Hawks scrutinised their applications and qualifications and, after further investigation, their qualifications were found to be fake.

“[The] investigation revealed that Khuzwayo submitted a fraudulent matric certificate with a serial number belonging to a deceased person. Mabuza submitted a fraudulent Bachelor of Education degree, purportedly issued by the University of Pretoria.”

The sentenced imposed was suspended for five years on the condition that the women are not found guilty of fraud during the period of suspension.

A confiscation order to the tune of R600 000 was also issued for their pension funds.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.