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Another scandal rocks municipality: Three workers jailed for R3,5 million theft

'Theft of public funds can be detrimental where margins are thin and donations are hard to come by. Especially in a depressed economy, every rand is needed to serve our local governments.'

The Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Palm Ridge sentenced three Rand West City Local Municipality (RWCLM) employees collectively to 31 years for theft of over R3,5 million on Friday, 30 April.

Hurbetin Phindi Mjonondwane, the regional National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) Gauteng Local Division spokesperson stated that Jacky Tshabalala, Letitia Mafuta and Anna Mdangane were convicted on 16 counts of theft of money that was meant for employees of the municipality.

“Tshabalala was sentenced to 15 years, while Mafuta and Mdangane were both sentenced to eight years imprisonment, half of which was suspended for five years on condition that they were not found guilty of theft or attempted theft during the period of suspension,” Mjonondwane said.

Also read: MEC finds maladministration, fraud, corruption and malpractice in Rand West City Local Municipality

She added that the theft was committed after employees got approval from the Chief Financial Officer through their union – the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU) – to form a social club called Abasebenzi Christmas Club.

“The aim of the social club was to save funds through employee contributions that were deducted from their salaries using the payroll system, and then paid into the club’s account that was held with ABSA bank. The savings would be distributed at the end of the year according to each member’s contribution,” stated Mjonondwane. She explained that the three accused were signatories and administrators of the account.

Another source the thieves had targeted was the Skills Development Levy (SDL) that the municipality was legally obligated to pay to the South African Revenue Services (SARS) on a monthly basis through their payroll system.

Whereas Mafuta and Mdangane were general workers, Tshabalala was employed within the payroll section.

The social club and SDL accounts were linked fraudulently, so the funds allocated to the SDL were also deposited into the social club’s account, which the three then stole for their personal gain, Mjonondwane said.

Also read: Patriotic Alliance wants everyone linked to municipality scandal suspended

She added that Tshabalala had access to the payroll system of the municipality through his position, and in furtherance of a common purpose transferred large sums of money from the social club’s bank account to their own bank accounts.

Prosecutor, Frans Mhlongo, argued that the offence was very serious. The aggravating factor was that the employer had placed them in a position of trust, but motivated by greed, the three accused abused their power to steal from the hand that fed them.

“Theft of public funds can be detrimental where margins are thin and donations are hard to come by. Especially in a depressed economy, every rand is needed to serve our local governments. This type of financial loss can be catastrophic to the reputation of the municipality and its continued operation, and the accused channeled funds away from the noble projects of the municipality,” said Mhlongo.

Mjonondwane explained that the court found that the three were neither entitled or had legitimate reasons for the money to be transferred into their bank accounts, and the NPA (National Prosecuting Authority) commended the officials of the municipality for pursuing justice by reporting the matter.

The municipality could not be reached for comment at the time of publication.

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