SAPS reveal ‘prominent political leader’ must pay back R3m in fraud case

A former political leader of the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) has little over a week left to start repaying R3 million back to the Department of Education, after he was found guilty of scamming Mpumalanga’s local government.

Who is the ‘prominent political leader’ SAPS refer to?

Seropane Senyane Alton Mphethi lost his presidency status in the PAC seven years ago, after he was arrested and sentenced to eight years imprisonment for defeating the course of justice, in a murder case where he was found to be an accomplice. SAPS has since confirmed that Mphethi has been at it again…

According to the cops, he was submitting ‘duplicate invoices’ to the provincial DOEs, while providing a service to transport children to school. By doubling up on his payslips, the disgraced former political leader was able to siphon off millions into his own pockets. The grift, however, has all come crashing down.

Ex-PAC leader hits a new low

He was given a 10-year suspended sentence on Friday, and an immediate repayment date was handed down. Mphethi must fork out R50 000 by the end of the month, and his assets will also be seized as part of these punitive measures.

“The accused, a former political leader, had a contract with the Mpumalanga Department of Education (DOE) to transport school children around Gert Sibande District Municipality. He then submitted duplicate claims to the DOE where he changed the invoice numbers and the dates when submitting the claims.”

“The department suffered a loss of R830 000 on the first entity and R1 997 964 on the second one.”

“On 20 August 2021, Seropane was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment wholly suspended for five years on condition that he pays R3 million with the first instalment of R50 000 on or before 30 August 2021. His two companies (Ngwato and Barudi) were fined R100 000 each. Asset Forfeiture Unit was involved in the sentence proceedings.”

#sapsHQ Mpumalanga: Former Political Party President sentenced on 20/08 to pay back R3 Mil to the Department of Education. He was convicted on 31/07 for 34 counts of fraud by the Ermelo Regional Court. MEhttps://t.co/vBHBD3zZpF pic.twitter.com/ykLCN9ZkfB

— SA Police Service (@SAPoliceService) August 22, 2021