Durban court sentences former Home Affairs official to four years behind bars for fraud and corruption
Daily News Oct 29, 2021
DURBAN - The Durban Magistrates Court sentenced a former Department of Home Affairs official to four years of direct imprisonment for fraud and corruption.
Hawks spokesperson Captain Simphiwe Mhlongo said Sbulelo Malanda, 44, was sentenced on Monday.
Mhlongo said Malanda was working for the Department of Home Affairs at its Umzimkhulu offices. In 2017, she colluded with her accomplices and assisted the foreign nationals to obtain South African identity documents fraudulently. As a result, those foreign nationals unduly benefited from social grants from the South African Social Security Agency.
“A case of fraud and corruption was reported at Umzimkhulu police station. The case docket was allocated to Hawks members from the Durban Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team for intensive investigation, and they were arrested in August 2017,” Mhlongo said.
He said they made several court appearances until her accomplices were found guilty in 2018. They were sentenced to two years imprisonment, which was suspended for five years on condition that they were not found guilty of fraud or corruption during the period of suspension.
“Malanda continued to attend court until she was found guilty in June last year. She was sentenced to four years of direct imprisonment for three counts of fraud and another four years imprisonment for three counts of corruption. She was further sentenced to six months imprisonment for contravention of the Immigration Act,” Mhlongo said.
He said her sentence will run concurrently.