City Press reports that Ntombelanga Labane’s forged matric certificate was so convincing that she was not only admitted and obtained a university degree, but she was also able to dupe the Mpumalanga education department to hire her as a teacher.

But, a whistleblower exposed her deception and, by the time she was caught out in 2022, she had already pocketed over R1.2 million in salary as a teacher. In September 2016, Labane applied for a business and accounting educator’s post at Hlelimfundo Secondary School in Amersfoort. She submitted a CV and attached copies of the fraudulent Matric certificate, a Bachelor of Education degree as well as a SA Council for Educators (SACE) certificate to the school principal. The school management agreed that Labane was suitable for the post and the principal also informed the School Governing Body (SGB) about the decision taken by the school management team. All relevant documents were then sent to the circuit manager, who signed and handed them to the department’s district office in Ermelo. The department’s human resource processed her application, captured her details on the Persal system and she was hired. The whistle blower who knew that Labane did not pass matric reported the matter to the Public Service Commission. It was discovered that Labane had used a certificate number and results of another matriculant to forge her matric certificate. The 40-year-old appeared before the Amersfoort Magistrate’s Court on Thursday on charges of fraud and the case was postponed to 13 June 2024 for further investigation.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Sipho Mabena at City Press (subscriber access only)

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