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Cops tricked into escorting fake UN ambassador to polling stations during 2021 elections
Nhlanhla Sizani has until next week to get legal representation.
The SAPS suffered actual financial loss as a result of the misrepresentation. Picture: iStock
The Pretoria Magistrate’s Court has postponed the case against Nhlanhla Sizani to 23 January for him to get legal representation.
According to Colonel Katlego Mogale, 24-year-old Sizani appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on 12 December 2023 on charges of fraud, alternative forgery and uttering after he was issued with a summons.
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During the 2021 local government elections, Sizani allegedly submitted a fraudulent letter with the United Nations (UN) insignia requesting a South African Police Service (SAPS) escort to polling stations for the duration of the elections.
Sizani allegedly misrepresented himself as an UN ambassador/diplomat and was escorted by the SAPS Diplomatic Police Unit to various polling stations as an observer.
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“Through an investigation by the Hawks’ Crime Against the State within Serious Organised Crime Investigation, the UN confirmed that Sizani was not an ambassador/diplomat (observer) and the request for escort was not from them. SAPS suffered actual financial loss as a result of the misrepresentation,” said Mogale.
The case was postponed to 23 January 2024 for the accused to obtain legal representation.
This comes amid a scandal involving economist and former Remgro director Thabi Leoka, who has been accused of misrepresenting her qualifications.
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This after Business Day on Tuesday alleged that Leoka, who serves on several boards of companies including Anglo American Platinum does not hold a PhD in Economics from the London School of Economics (LSE).
Leoka has insisted she holds a PhD from the LSE and that she undertook the programme under a different name.
“I do hold a PHD in Economics from the university. I did economic history and economics,” she said.
“They didn’t use my full name, without using the right names, the school wouldn’t verify or confirm a name that is incomplete or not on their system. I changed my name with Home Affairs.”
READ MORE: ‘I did not misrepresent my qualifications,’ says former Remgro director Thabi Leoka
