Couple Who Faked Teaching Qualifications and Stole R1 Million Receive 6 Year Suspended Sentence

• A wife and husband from Mpumalanga have been given a suspended prison sentence for lying about their teaching qualifications
• The couple managed to secure teaching posts at the same primary school using fake teaching qualifications
• During their tenure, the couple also managed to scam the Department of Education out of more than R1 million

NELSPRUIT - A married couple from Mpumalanga has been given a six-year suspended sentence for faking their teaching qualifications and defrauding the Department of Education of more than R1 million.

The sentence was handed down by the Nelspruit Commercial Crimes Court on Monday, according to a report by News24. Bongisipho Robert Mthembu and his wife Hlobisile Lindokuhle Mthembu were caught after a whistleblower alerted the authorities that they did have the correct qualifications to teach.

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Hlobisile was hired at Maphala Gulube Primary School in 2007 after submitting fake qualifications. During her time there, Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi, spokesperson for the Hawks, stated that she managed to defraud the Department of Education of more than R500 000.

Three years into Hlobislie's employment, her husband, Bongisipho, was hired at the same school using fraudulent documents as well. Bongisipho was then transferred to a different school and again an amount shy of R600 000 went missing.

After the whistleblower came forward the department decided to run an audit and asked teachers to submit their qualifications, Hlobislie and Bongisipho were unable to do so, according to TimesLIVE.

Following the audit, the couple was investigated, which prompted their resignation in 2016. Authorities arrested them in 2018. The couple's sentence is suspended for five years on the condition they are not found guilty of fraud-related charges in that time period.

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Teacher arrested for allegedly selling fake Eskom prepaid vouchers

Briefly News previously reported that a Mpumalanga teacher has been taken into custody by the police after she was caught allegedly selling prepaid Eskom electricity vouchers.

The arrest follows a two-year investigation that uncovered a syndicate in Middelberg. The syndicate had allegedly been using an unauthorised vending machine to sell Eskom vouchers at a lower price.

Phunzile Constance Masimula, 42, was arrested with three other people in the operation. The investigation was launched after a whistleblower alerted authorities to the syndicate.

According to News24, the group was printing fraudulent vouchers and selling them at a low price. The Hawks revealed that they had gathered enough evidence to build a watertight case against the syndicate.

Source: Briefly News