Commercial Crimes Court convicts Shatale Post Office fraud syndicate

The co-accused of the former Shatale Post Office manager, Lucia Mashego, were convicted of stealing from South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) beneficiaries by the Commercial Crimes Court on August 15.

Precious Nyathi and Thandeka Dibakwane were each sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment and a R6 000 fine, with the prison term and R4 000 of the fine suspended for five years.

Their co-accused, Virginia Phoku, was also found guilty of theft and fraud, and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment and a R6 000 fine, with two years and R4 000 of the fine suspended for five years.

All three suspensions are conditional on the offenders not being convicted of a similar offence during that period. According to the Hawks’ provincial spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Magonseni Nkosi, Mashego pleaded guilty to all 60 charges against her on May 27.

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On Monday, August 11, she was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment, wholly suspended for five years on condition that she is not convicted of a similar offence. The court also ordered the Asset Forfeiture Unit to recover close to R147 000 from her pension fund.

“Mashego colluded with a teller, Dibakwane, and a third party, Nyathi, to steal from Sassa beneficiaries,” Nkosi said.

According to him, Mashego made fraudulent Sassa cards that Dibakwane gave to Nyathi to unlawfully withdraw money from different ATMs. “The Sassa beneficiaries suffered an actual loss of R250 000,” he added.

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Nkosi highlighted that, upon noticing illicit activities, Phoku, another post office teller, took advantage of the situation and made herself dupli