Limpopo woman had people pretend to be disabled in R300k Sassa scam
Image: South African Government via Twitter
A Limpopo woman who recruited 15 people to lie about living with disabilities to get social grant payments is the first of a larger group who ran a scam netting R300,000 to be jailed.
For two years, Angelina Morongwe, 45, recruited people to lie about living with physical disabilities to get South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) grant payments.
Hawks spokesperson Capt Matimba Maluleke told TimesLIVE Morongwe was a middleman in the syndicate that also involved three Sassa officials from the Tzaneen branch.
“The accused conspired with three officials to recruit people from local communities to apply for disability grants though they were not disabled,” Maluleke said.
The applicants were able to get the grants without having to undergo a medical examination by a doctor, which is a requirement.
“During the investigation, it was discovered that after recruiting members of the public, Sassa officials would process the applications and the money would be paid to the beneficiaries.
“The beneficiaries would give the first payment to the officials who would share it with the accused. The department has suffered a loss of R300,000 due to these fraudulent activities.”
Morongwe was sentenced in the Polokwane specialised commercial crimes court to five years' imprisonment. The other accused, including the 15 people who lied about living with disabilities and the officials, are to stand trial from September.
This is the second conviction for Sassa fraud in the Tzaneen region this year.
In February, two former Sassa officials, Solani Agnes Baloyi, 56, and Jacob Manamela, 64, from Tzaneen, were sentenced in the specialised commercial crimes court in Giyani for involvement in disability grant fraud.
“During January 2015, the accused who were stationed at Tzaneen Sassa offices, recruited unemployed people from the area to apply for disability grants while they were not disabled,” Maluleke said.
The department suffered a loss of R600,000 in that case.
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