SASSA officials jailed for fraud

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Former Social Security Agency (SASSA) officials aged 56 and 64, Solani Agnes Baloyi and Jacob Manamela respectively, have been found guilty by  the Giyani Specialised Commercial Crimes Court for fraud that saw the Department losing an estimated amount of R 600 000.00.

Hawks Spokesperson in the area Captain Matimba Maluleke said the now convicted two were stationed at Tzaneen SASSA offices.

They went around recruiting unemployed people from the area to apply for disability grant whereas they were not disabled.

“The applications were successfully processed by the accused and the payments were made to unfit beneficiaries. The first payments would be shared with the officials while the other payments would be for the beneficiaries.”

“The authorities from SASSA received a tip off about the fraudulent activities and reported the matter to the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation. After conducting a thorough Investigation, the accused were arrested and released on bail until they were found guilty and sentenced.”

They were given five years prison term.