Northern Cape Home Affairs Official Convicted of Fraud for Faking Deaths for Funeral Insurance

• The Calvinia Magistrates Court in Calvinia in the Northern Cape convicted Dawn Celeste Pieterdon of fraud
• She was found guilty of nine counts of fraud and contravening the Birth and Death Registration Act
• She ran a scheme where she nominated herself as the beneficiary of false deaths she recorded in the Home Affairs system

Tebogo Mokwena, Briefly News’ Deputy Head of the Current Affairs desk, South Africa, covered a range of criminal activities, including cash-in-transit heists, kidnappings, taxi violence, police investigations, police shootouts, and court cases at Daily Sun for over three years.

CALVINIA, NORTHERN CAPE — The Calvinia Magistrates Court in Calvinia, Northern Cape, found a Department of Home Affairs official guilty of faking the deaths of South Africans to benefit from funeral insurance payouts.

According to the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security cluster, 45-year-old Dawn Celeste Pieterson was found guilty of nine counts of fraud and two counts of contravening the Births and Deaths Registration Act. Pieterson's criminal activities began in February 2019 to September 2022. She registered South Africans who were alive as dead, and took out multiple funeral covers for them, nominating herself as a beneficiary.

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Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber welcomed her confession and said that it is a step forward in the department's quest to clean out corruption. She is expected to appear in court on 26 January 2026 for sentencing.

Cases related to fraud in South Africa

Recently, the South African Police Service raided 26 properties in Cape Town, Western Cape. The raids took place between 30 September and 1 October 2025. The raids came after the Hawks conducted an investigation into alleged tender fraud to the amount of R1.6 billion. The Hawks raided municipal officials' homes, business premises, and construction sites.

Minister of Health Dr Aaron Motsoaledi was shocked by the R2 billion Tembisa Hospital corruption saga. This was after the Special Investigating Unit found that three syndicates allegedly looted the hospital's financial resources. Vusimuzi Matlala's alleged criminal syndicate was also linked to the looting of the hospital.

Motsoaledi slammed the rampant corruption and praised whistleblowers like the late Babita Deokaran, who was assassinated in 2021 after exposing corruption at the hospital.

What did South Africans say?

Netizens commenting on X and sharing their opinions slammed the fraudster.

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Recon1 joked:

"This one killed people. Legally."

Somila Be Still asked:

"Why are there no security measures in the system? Why does someone have access to processing such information without authorisations in place?"

Joe said:

"If only people could know how difficult it is to reverse what she did, being declared dead whilst you're still alive. She deserves the harshest punishment."

Pule Mabe maintains innocence in fraud case

In a related article, Briefly News reported that former African National Congress spokesperson Pule Mabe maintained his innocence. This came as he was arrested and charged with theft and fraud.

Mabe was charged for allegedly benefiting from a R27 million tender, which he received for delivering 300 wheeler vehicles to the Ekurhuleni Municipality.

Proofreading by Kelly Lippke, copy editor at Briefly.co.za.

Source: Briefly News