Sassa Employee Found Guilty of Fraud, Earned over R4 Million in 20 Years

• A woman who was employed by the South African Social Security Agency has been convicted of fraud
• The 62-year-old is said to have used fake matric papers to apply for a position at the agency in 2004
• A Department of Education official was one of the witnesses who took the stand and told the court that she did not have a matric qualification

MIDDLEBURG - A 62-year-old woman who is a former employee of the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has been found guilty of fraud by the Middelburg Commercial Crimes Court in Mpumalanga.

Alinah Nkonyana worked for the agency for almost 20 years using fraudulent matric credentials and managed to earn more than R4 million during her tenure, according to News24.

National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Monica Nyuswa said Nkonyana's con was revealed after a whistleblower alerted Sassa that Nkonyana did not have matric credentials in 2020.

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The department that made the decision to run an audit requiring employees to submit their matric certificates, however, Nkonyana was unable to do so. Following the audit, Nkonyana was let go from her job and subsequently arrested.

Nkonyana started working for Sassa in 2004 and submitted an application for the Senior Administrative Officer position, along with a fake matric certificate, according to The South African. An official from the Department of Education testified at Nkonyana's trial and stated that she did not finish her matric.

She pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against her. Nkonyana will be back in court on 12 November for pre-sentencing submissions.

Government holding talks to substitute R350 Social Relief of Distress Grant before it expires next year

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Briefly News previously reported that a substitute for the R350 relief grant will soon be in the works. Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana on Wednesday, 8 September told Parliament that the reliable payment from SASSA may be superseded by next year.

Gondongwana, however, confirmed that the substitution was dependent on affordability. The service line's budget for the grant is around R205 billion for the years 2022 and 2023. The minister explained that the above is targeted at assisting the poor in an attempt to rid the country of the poverty gap.

He went on to explain that Statistics South Africa should present more sound numbers on the damage to the economy as a result of the unrest in July, said a report by The South African. The R350 social relief grant was brought forward in April last year. People gathered in their numbers to receive their grant. The relief did expire twice.

Source: Briefly News