KZN premier's office manager who faked qualifications gets six years

A former official in the KwaZulu-Natal premier's office who faked his qualifications has been sentenced to six years for fraud by the Pietermaritzburg magistrate's court.

Mlekeleli Masondo, 45, who applied for a project manager’s post in 2010 by submitting fraudulent qualifications, was found guilty on five counts of fraud.

He was sentenced to a further two years' imprisonment for forgery and another two counts of uttering. Both sentences will run concurrently.

Masondo was employed and in 2019 promoted to a deputy director position.

Hawks spokesperson Lt-Col Simphiwe Mhlongo said in 2021 the department of public administration conducted a qualification audit and Masondo failed to submit original documents.

“It was then discovered his qualifications were fraudulent and disciplinary steps were instituted against him,” said Mhlongo.

The office of the premier was defrauded of R3,720,422 and a case of fraud was reported at Pietermaritzburg police station.

The case docket was allocated to the Hawks members from Pietermaritzburg serious commercial crime investigation and he was arrested in February last year. Masondo was found guilty in the Pietermaritzburg regional court on May 9.

KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Maj-Gen Lesetja Senona welcomed the sentence and congratulated members for their work.

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