Category: Crime & Corruption News

The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) has welcomed the arrests of 16 suspects who are accused of swindling the Fund’s COVID-19 Temporary Employer-Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) of R2.2 million.

The suspects were apprehended in Gauteng and North West provinces by the South African Police Service’s Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, known as the Hawks.

The Department of Employment and Labour said that during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, three sole directors of different dormant entities applied for COVID-19 TERS funds from the UIF on behalf of respectively 47, 133, and 141 people, who were seemingly not employed by them.

At least R2.2 million in COVID-19 TERS funds was subsequently paid into the companies’ bank accounts and the money was channelled to certain individuals for personal enrichment.

Following investigations in this regard, the suspects were traced and arrested on Sunday, 27 November 2022.

UIF Commissioner, Teboho Maruping, has welcomed the latest arrests and has commended the Hawks and the Department of Employment and Labour’s Risk, Anti-Fraud and Integrity Management unit in the North West province for their relentless hard work in bringing COVID-19 TERS fraud suspects to book.

“The arrests of these 16 suspects in one operation is the biggest we have witnessed thus far, since the establishment of the COVID-19 TERS scheme. I hope this bold action sends a strong and clear message to would-be and other fraudsters that the long arm of the law will catch up with them.

“Those who have helped themselves to the funds earmarked for workers during the lockdowns must not have any peace. They must know that the net is closing in on them. We will continue to work with the Hawks in a relentless pursuit to bring all COVID-19 TERS fraudsters to book, and we will leave no stone unturned,” said Maruping.

The Commissioner also revealed that the Fund was already conducting Phase 2 of the “Follow the money” project, which entails the auditing of companies to verify if their claims were valid, and if the right amount of money was paid over to workers at the right time.

“We have appointed several forensic audit firms with over 360 auditors who are currently visiting companies that have benefitted from COVID-19 TERS funds and are suspected of fraud. Until all fraudulent funds are fully recovered and the suspects held accountable, we will not rest.

“In this regard, the UIF will continue to work with the Department of Employment and Labour’s Risk, Anti-Fraud and Integrity Management unit and law enforcement partners,” said Maruping.

In 2020, the UIF was entrusted with the responsibility of alleviating poverty in the country by providing short-term financial relief to businesses and workers in order for the economy to survive the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

To date, 10 people have been convicted and sentenced to direct imprisonment or suspended sentences for defrauding of the COVID-19 TERS scheme.

Meanwhile, 46 suspects have been arrested thus far and the Fund anticipates more arrests as Phase 2 of the Follow the money project, which started in July 2022, continues.

The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) has confirmed that the murderer of struggle stalwart Chris Hani, Janusz Walus, has been stabbed at the Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Centre in Pretoria.

Walus murdered Hani in 1993 in an apparent assassination hit of the Anti-Apartheid political activist.

“A detailed incident report is to be provided at a later stage, but what can be stated at this point is that inmate Walus is stable and DCS healthcare officials are providing the necessary care. It is alleged that Walus was stabbed by another inmate from the same housing unit.

“Stabbing and other forms of disturbances are offences not warranted in a correctional environment and this case will be investigated,” the department said.

The Constitutional Court recently ordered the release of Walus on parole after he was denied parole twice by Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Ronald Lamola and former Minister Michael Masutha.

He is expected to be released this week.

A case of armed robbery and attempted theft has been opened with police after five suspects attempted to steal diesel at Transet Freight Rail’s (TFR) Watervalboven depot in Mpumalanga.

According to TFR, the men were caught in the act following a tip off by community members.

“At approximately 02h05am [on Monday] armed criminals managed to gain access to the TFR site with the intention to steal diesel. The criminals entered with two vehicles, including a fuel tanker, and proceeded to siphon thousands of litres of diesel into their tanker.

“The South African Police Services (SAPS) was tipped off by members of the community after noticing suspicious activity at the depot. As the police arrived, the suspects fled the scene on foot leaving behind their vehicle as well as the fuel tanker. The suspects had already transferred approximately 18 000 litres of diesel to their fuel tanker before fleeing the scene,” the company said.

TFR said the arrests were a “major breakthrough” in the fight against diesel theft.

“The crime scene was thoroughly processed to collect evidence and to possibly link the suspects to similar crimes such as the armed robbery and theft of diesel at TFR’s Lydenburg and Witbank depots.

“The Asset Forfeiture Unit has also been activated to ensure the vehicles used in the commissioning of a crime are forfeited to the State. This is regarded as a major breakthrough and it is expected that arrests are imminent,” TFR said.

The company called on communities to immediately report any suspicious activities to police.

“TFR commends the members of the community and the SAPS for their swift action and calls on all stakeholders to join the fight against fuel theft by reporting any suspicious trucks or persons selling diesel at suspiciously low prices in the communities, and more importantly, to refrain from buying fuel from unregistered traders as this only serves to exacerbate the problem by providing a thriving market for illicit trade,” TFR said.

With 827 arrests and 217 convictions secured between July and September, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation’s (DPCI/Hawks) quest to make serious inroads in the fight against crime continues to gain momentum.

This was on Tuesday revealed by National Hawks Head Lieutenant General Godfrey Lebeya during a media briefing outlining the Directorate’s successes in the second quarter of the 2022/23 financial year.

During the briefing the Lt General highlighted 50 cases, which represented 5% of the Hawks successes during the three months.

With 524 arrests, the Serious Organised Crime Investigation component accounted for the majority of arrests. The Serious Commercial Crime Investigation component followed with 206 arrests, while the Serious Corruption Investigation unit secured 97 arrests.

Fraud cases, which are investigated by the Hawks Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team, recorded the highest number of arrests over all other commodities. In this regard, 222 arrests were secured across the country.

Serious commercial crime was followed by precious metals and diamonds (illegal mining activities) with 126 arrests.

The non-ferrous metal cases followed with 97 arrests and this involved copper theft, and theft of railway line and other essential infrastructure that aids economic activities in the country.

The majority of convictions stemmed from serious organised crime with a total of 128 suspects convicted and sentenced. This was followed by the serious commercial crime component 74 convictions.

A total of 15 suspects were convicted and sentenced for corruption during the period under review.

The Lt General said corruption continued to surface as one of the “biggest threats posed by criminals” to the country.

“It facilitates illicit financial funds which triggered our response to focus on money laundering charges initiated through criminal investigations.

“Corruption cases are a special breed, in that they are committed in secret by consenting parties, which requires a lot of digging to unearth such cases,” he said.

Although the number of arrests from the Serious Corruption Investigation component are the lowest, he said it was in line with the number of cases and resources assigned to deal with the phenomenon.

A number of other corruption cases also appear in the figures of the Serious Commercial Crime Investigation unit.

“We have made some strides on that front and some of the cases that required high-level, meticulous investigation carried out by our team of investigators in rooting out these corrupt elements are mentioned here,” said Lebeya.

South African Police Service (SAPS) Eastern Cape Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Nomthetheleli Mene has condemned the unethical and corrupt behaviour of a warrant officer from SAPS New Brighton.

The policeman was arrested on Sunday.

Eastern Cape SAPS spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu said it was alleged that on Friday the warrant officer approached a detective sergeant and offered him money in exchange for a murder docket that was currently under investigation.

“The detective reported the alleged corruption and on Sunday, 27 November 2022, the warrant officer (57) was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Unit.

“He appeared in the New Brighton Magistrate Court on Monday, 28 November 2022, and he is remanded in custody until 5 December 2022 for a formal bail application,” she said.

Lt Gen Mene reiterated that unscrupulous and dishonest actions by SAPS members had serious impact on tarnishing the image of the South African Police Services.

“We have repeatedly mentioned that police officers are not above the law and we are determined to root out corruption wherever and whenever it manifests. These corrupt officers who choose to ignore the SAPS Code of Conduct and Code of Ethics will be arrested and brought to justice. There is no room for corrupt police officers in this organisation and we will intensify our intelligence-led operations to ensure all police officers with criminal mindsets are removed from the service,” she said.

Limpopo MEC for Education Mavhungu Lerule-Ramakhanya has conveyed her deepest condolences to the families of two Grade 12 learners who passed away last week.

A learner from Tshamahansi, outside Mokopane, in the Mogalakwena District, was allegedly killed after escaping from a study camp at Ben Hlongwane Secondary School.

It is reported that the learner was found with stab wounds outside the school premises.

The circumstances of how the learner got out of the school is a subject of investigation by the department.

In another incident, a matric learner is believed to have drowned in a nearby river in Sekhukhune East. His body was retrieved on Saturday afternoon, five kilometres from where he was last seen.

The department urged parents, learners and society as a whole to work together to protect the youth and children.

“It is disturbing that in just one week we lost two Grade 12 learners under similar circumstances. The idea of affording learners extra lessons at the school premises was meant to keep them focused on their school work in an endeavour to improve the matric result.

“It is a great loss to the family and to us as the department. We have invested so much on these learners and we hope this will be the last incident,” MEC Lerule-Ramakhanya said.

The Hawks’ persistence to apprehend the Temporary Employer/ Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) funds fraudsters led to the arrest of a total of 16 suspects in the early hours of Sunday.

Warrant Officer Bonnie Nxumalo said the suspects, aged between 23 and 57, were arrested in Gauteng and North West provinces respectively during an operation by the team of Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation (SCCI) based in North West.

The operation was in conjunction with their counterparts in the Hawks’ Tactical Operations Management Section (TOMS) and Hawks’ Priority Crime Specialised Investigation (PCSI). They were assisted by the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

“It is alleged that in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, three sole directors of different dormant entities applied for TERS funds from the Department of Employment and Labour for 47, 133 and 141 supposed employees,” said Nxumalo.

She said the department paid the funds to companies’ bank accounts.

“The funds were allegedly transferred to certain individuals for personal enrichment. The department suffered a total loss of more than R1.4 million due to siphoning activities. The Hawks investigated the matters and warrants of arrests were issued,” she said.

The suspects are expected to appear in the Mahikeng District Court on Monday, 28 November. They will face fraud charges.

Aggression and violence are at worrying levels in South Africa, crime statistics reveal.

This reality was emphasised in the 2022 second quarter crime statistics released by Police Minister, Bheki Cele, on Wednesday.

“Violence meted not only against women and children, but violence playing out in homes, on our roads and even inside public safe spaces such as churches and schools, is staggering,” the Minister said.

The quarter, which spans from July to September, saw a record number of assault cases reported to the police in five years.

Over this period, 7 004 people were murdered in South Africa.

“Arguments, misunderstandings and incidents of road rage and provocations accounted for 956 murders in the country,” he said.

The Minister revealed that vigilantism claimed the lives of 528 people, while 362 people were killed during the commission of a robbery.

“Inanda and uMlazi police stations in KwaZulu-Natal and Nyanga in the Western  Cape registered the highest counts of murder during this period,” he said, adding that 274 counts of murder were reported in those three areas combined.

He said the high murder rate can also be attributed to multiple murders, where two or more people were killed in one incident.

SAPS is investigating 250 dockets of multiple murders, with 578 victims. This included the mass shooting at Mdlalose tavern in Soweto, where 17 people were killed in July in a single shooting incident.

Police have since arrested five suspects for their role in that shooting.

The Minister said KwaZulu-Natal recorded the highest number of multiple murders, followed by Gauteng and the Western Cape.

“Equally, the police in the three provinces continue to make arrests and bring the gunmen and their handlers to book. Police operational responses nationwide, should continue to remove guns that are in the wrong hands,” he said.

During this period, 22 police officers were killed during July to September 2022, this is two members less compared to the same reporting period last year.

“It is on this note that this Ministry will never stop calling on SAPS members to defend themselves at all times from ruthless criminals whenever they are under attack. It is quite simple; police must meet fire with fire!” he said.

In the three months, Cele revealed that police investigated 85 640 assault GBH [grievous bodily harm] and common assault cases.

Of these 12 203 assault GBH cases, most took place behind closed doors – either at the home of the victim or the home of the perpetrator.

The second most likely place of occurrence for assault GBH was at public places such as streets, open fields, recreational centers or abandoned buildings.

A total of 6 662 assault GBH cases were domestic violence-related.

National Police Commissioner, General Fannie Masemola, has launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the fatal shooting of a police trainee at the SAPS Operational and Tactical Training Academy in Thabazimbi, Limpopo, on Sunday.

While an internal investigation is underway, the matter has been referred to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID), said SAPS spokesperson, Colonel Athlenda Mathe.

She said psychologists, social workers and chaplains from the Employee Health and Wellness component are currently providing psychosocial support to the family of the deceased and all affected.

Masemola has pledged the organisation’s full cooperation and support to the IPID investigation.

“This is an unfortunate incident. We request space to conduct a thorough investigation to be able to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident. We pledge our full support to the family of the deceased and all affected,” said Masemola.