67 'grant fraudsters' to appear

16 November 2005

Johannesburg - Sixty-seven government officials are due to appear in court this month on charges relating to defrauding the social grant system, says the department of social development.

Lakela Kaunda of the department said the officials, from various government departments, would appear on charges of fraud, corruption and maladministration.

Kaunda said: "The officials were unlawfully benefiting from the grant system, especially the child support grants."

Twenty-five officials were due to appear in Vryburg magistrate's court, North West, on November 16. These officials allegedly defrauded the system of more than R90 000.

Kaunda said: "Meanwhile, 26 officials will appear in Johannesburg on November 17 and 16 officials will appear in Pietersburg in Limpopo on November 28."

Dept probes 41 000 officials

He said: "In Johannesburg, the grant system lost more than R200 000 to fraudulent officials, while officials in Limpopo defrauded the system of about R115 000."

Kaunda said there were 41 000 officials nationwide receiving social grants. These were all being investigated to determine whether the recipients were in fact eligible to receive them.

This was part of the department's campaign to root out fraud, maladministration and corruption in the social grant system.

Kaunda said: "Any official involved in a crime against the social grants system will face arrest, prosecution, and, after conviction, be subjected to recovery processes that will effectively take the profit out of crime."

Social grant beneficiaries in North West, Gauteng, Limpopo and Mpumalanga had already been investigated.

Investigations were still being conducted in other provinces.

Source: News 24

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