Six more suspects aged between 33 and 54 have been arrested in connection with South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) disability grant corruption in Khobo village outside Tzaneen on Tuesday, 23 February 2021.
The suspects were arrested during the continuous multi- disciplinary takedown operation comprising the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation, Tzaneen SAPS First Responders, Crime Intelligence and SASSA officials.
The first 12 suspects including three Nkowankowa SASSA officials, one intermediary and 8 ineligible beneficiaries were arrested on Monday when the takedown operation kick-started.
It is alleged that between the period 2018 and 2019 the South African Social Security Agency officials colluded with an intermediary to recruit ineligible people in Tzaneen area to register for disability grant at a fee and as a result the state suffered a loss of over R300 000.00.
This brings the total number of arrested suspects to 18.
All the suspects will appear in the Tzaneen Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, 24 February 2021 to face fraud and corruption charges.
The operation to search for other outstanding suspects continues.
The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation in the province would like to warn the public about bogus Hawks member who is busy extorting money from the families of the arrested persons. This came after this bogus Hawks member claiming to be Colonel Monyela allegedly contacted the families of some of the arrested persons and demanded money in order to give them bail. The victims allegedly paid over R40 000.00.
As the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, we want to put the record straight that our members are not allowed to call the families of the accused persons and demand money in any way. If you can be called by someone claiming to be from the Hawks and demand money, know that you are about to be scammed. You are kindly advised to call the nearest police station.
Read: Disability grant corruption: Hawks swoop on and arrest 12 suspects
