AN ALLEGED bogus teacher, Ntombelanga Labane, has been arrested for defrauding the Mpumalanga Department of Education of over R1 million.
The arrest came after the matter was brought to the cops by a whistleblower.
Mpumalanga Police spokeswoman Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi said the Public Service Commission investigated the matter.
Sekgotodi said that during further Investigation by the dedicated team, it was discovered that Labane (40) doesn't have a Grade 12 certificate and that she wrote and failed matric four times (2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006) and didn't pass.
The results appearing on her fraudulent matric certificate were not her real results.
She then took the fraudulent matric certificate and applied at Walter Sisulu University, where she obtained her B-ED degree. She also applied for a SACE certificate with that fraudulent matric certificate. She also applied for an educator's post at Hlelimfundo Secondary School.
Labane completed a Bachelor's degree with a fake matric certificate and duped the Mpumalanga education department into employing her as a teacher.
Sekgotodi alleged that on 1 September 2016, Labane applied for a business and accounting educator's post at Hlelimfundo Secondary School in Amersfoort under the Volksrust circuit.
"They then agreed that she is suitable for the post. The principal also informed the SGB (School Governing Body) about the decision taken by the school management team. The SGB also supported the decision.
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"The management team allowed Labane to apply for the post, and she was given an application document called EDU 1 to apply for the post. SGB members and the principal signed the application forms on 12 September 2016," she said.
She said all relevant documents were sent to the circuit manager, who signed them and took them to the Department of Education District Office at Ermelo.
Sekgotodi said a whistleblower who knew that Labane didn't pass matric reported the matter to the Public Service Commission based in Mpumalanga, which then investigated it.
"After investigations, findings and recommendations were made.
The principal, circuit manager, and the district office were asked about a fraudulent matric certificate, and they reported that they didn't notice that the matric certificate was fraudulent as they didn't have detectors to verify the validity of the documents.
"The public service commission referred the matter to the Hawks Secunda-based Serious Commercial Crime investigation for further investigation in July 2022," said Sekgotodi.
She said it was also discovered that from September 2016, Labane prejudiced and caused an actual & potential loss of millions to the Department of Education, which was earned by Labane during the time of employment.
"During the discovery, Labane abandoned the job and disappeared.
"Investigations were finalized, and the Court issued J175 on 16 April this year against Labane to appear in Court. She was traced and arrested," said Sekgotodi.
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