IOL News reports that a former municipal clerk, Ntombozuko Mgoqi, has been convicted on charges of fraud and theft and sentenced in the Peddie Regional Court in the Eastern Cape.

Her co-accused, Nolufefe Mrhwebo, was convicted and found guilty on 25 May 2016 and sentenced to four years imprisonment. The provincial spokesperson for the Hawks, Warrant Officer Ndiphiwe Mhlakuvana, said Mgoqi was a clerk in the expenditure department within the Ngqushwa Local Municipality. He reported as follows: “During December 2013 and June 2014, Mgoqi unlawfully and intentionally colluded with Mrhwebo to manipulate the municipal system to increase their salaries without the employer’s authorisation. Subsequent to that, internal auditing picked up discrepancies in their salaries and the municipality suffered a loss of over R200,000 from the unauthorised salary increase.” The subsequent investigation revealed that Mgoqi had intentionally manipulated the municipal system to increase her and her colleague’s salaries without the employer’s authorisation. Eight years after the sentencing of her co-accused, Mgoqi was sentenced to five years direct imprisonment with no option of a fine.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Robin-Lee Francke at IOL News

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