Zim Man Sentenced to 1 Year Imprisonment for Identity Theft After Enjoying SANDF Member’s Salary and Perks

• A Zimbabwean national was sentenced to a year in prison for stealing the identity of a SA National Defence Force member
• Admirer Sibanda received Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) for a year during the national state of disaster
• The jail sentence has left many social media users outraged, with several people saying the time does not fit the crime

EAST LONDON - The prison sentence of a Zimbabwean national using the identity documents of an SA National Defence Force member who defrauded the government left citizens outraged.

Admirer Sibanda received Covid-19 temporary employee/employer relief scheme (Ters) money paid from the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) for over a year. Using the stolen identity book of Betwel Juwele, Sibanda also received a salary and benefits during the national state of disaster.

UIF commissioner Teboho Maruping told TimesLIVE the fund did not pick up the identity fraud before the pay-outs were made since government departments do not contribute to UIF. He said Juwele appeared on the UIF system under a labour broker, which allowed the claim to be approved.

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The Special Investigation Unit’s (SIU) UIF fraud investigation began investigating the matter. SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said Sibanda confessed to identity theft last December and was arrested.

The Zimbabwean national was sentenced to one year imprisonment for fraud and identity theft. He will thereafter be deported following his jail term.

In a statement, Kganyago welcomed the sentence and said:

“The imprisonment of Sibanda is a clear demonstration by State institutions of the implementation of the SIU investigation outcomes and consequence management.”

Mzansi calls for harsher sentence over SANDF member’s identity theft

@Ratshilumella said:

“I don't think one year sentence can deter him or others from doing the same. The benefits were much more than the sentence.”

@Mente_Ps commented:

“One year for identity theft of a military member, we might have more than the one who stole an identity. If this can happen, how many are stealing military information?”

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@Kgomoyamaphoto posted:

“Just one year for identity theft? One year.”

@Queen_bafe wrote:

“Wow! One year for such a serious violation! Only in Mzansi.”

@logic_mufc stated:

“That's six months. Useless judiciary system.”

@Sabza200BC added:

“Only one year? This country will continue to be a joke.”

Zimbabwean national gets 15-year sentence for copper cable theft and illegal immigration in Limpopo

Briefly News also reported that a Zimbabwean man who is in the country illegally has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for stealing copper cables from a Limpopo farm and an additional six months for being in South Africa illegally.

Shepard Munorwa, 30, was convicted for tampering with essential infrastructure, theft of copper relating to essential infrastructure and illegal immigration by the Musina Regional Court.

According to IOL, the Zim national was nabbed by a private security company after he stole the copper cables on a private farm.

Source: Briefly News