BARBERTON – Barely a week after the sacking of the female senior administration court clerk at the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DJCD), which highlighted corruption at the Barberton Magistrate’s Court, another official has been dismissed.
Ian Maseko, an admission-of-guilt finance clerk of the court, was charged with stealing R292 950.
This amount included among others, maintenance, bail, admission-of-guilt and traffic fines.
Mthunzi Mhanga, DJCD spokesman confirmed the sacking of Maseko. “The official was departmentally charged for fraud and theft. The sanction for the disciplinary hearing for dismissal was served on him on August 30. He did not lodge an appeal and was subsequently dismissed.
A criminal case was opened against him, which is currently being investigated by the Commercial Crimes Unit,” confirmed Mhanga.
His dismissal follows that of Judith Mantombi Mavuso (28), who was employed as senior administration court clerk. She was sacked for stealing R38 700. Unlike Maseko, Mavuso has since lodged an appeal against her dismissal.
Of late, corruption at the local court has been rife. Several people, especially those receiving maintenance payments, have complained of not receiving their money on time.
In our Barberton Times edition of August 28, on the opinion page, Busisiwe Nkomo complained bitterly about her child maintenance payments from the court. “The Barberton Maintenance Court service is not up to standard.
They receive the money from the employees of the fathers around the 25th of each month, but the beneficiary gets her money, which pays for school fees and food, among others, around the 15th, which is 10 days before the next payment is due.
“When you phone to find out the reasons for the delay, you will be told that the person who is supposed to sign for the payment is sick, and the next in charge has family problems,” said Nkomo.
She also blamed the manager, Reggie Mthethwa for not always being available to assist. “If they get caught up in their own problems for a month, the mothers are unable to pay school fees and provide food for their kids. That means everything depends on the person’s well-being or whether he or she is available,” wrote Nkomo.
However, Barberton Times, through a reliable source within the court, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there was always a shortage of money in the court due to rampant theft.
“It was not true that certain people were not available. The fact of the matter is, money was stolen,” said the source who added that heads would roll in the court.
“There has been poor management and lack of leadership. These discrepancies started many years ago and have now been discovered.
“We don’t know how much has been stolen or by whom. But expect many people, especially those who have custody of cash, to lose their jobs in the near future,” added the source.
The court manager, Mthethwa, declined to comment, referring all queries to the head office.
But Mhanga has warned the officials within the court, saying that they will deal with corruption harshly. “The DJCD has a zero-tolerance policy on fraud, theft and corruption.”
Maseko’s criminal case is being probed by the Commercial Crimes Unit but at the time of going to print, the paper couldn’t determine when he would appear in court.
