Four Sassa fraudsters ordered to pay back the money

“They then registered the ghost children with the department of home affairs and acquired birth certificates. “They all used the birth certificates to access child support grants from Sassa. 

“The commission decentralised the complainant to the province. The matter was allocated to the Hawks Mbombela based Serious Commercial Crime Investigation for further handling. 

“The investigation revealed that the fraudulent activities dated back from 2012 until they were reported in 2023,” said Nkosi.

The four women were arrested and released on bail in May 2023 and sentenced on Thursday.

“They were also ordered to pay back the money lost by Sassa in instalments. Madalane was ordered to pay back R20,330.64 and Masuku to pay back R20,238.23. Both Shiba and Nkosi were ordered to pay back R10,344.00 each.

Mpumalanga Hawks head Maj-Gen Nico Gerber applauded the team for presenting a watertight case to court.

“Crime does not pay, and the convicts now need to pay back the money. State grants are for the poor and needy and not meant for fraudsters who only want to benefit their own selfish interests.”

SowetanLIVE

Correction: A previous version of this article said that six women were arrested instead of four.