Cape Town - A 41-year-old man who allegedly lied about his qualifications and defrauded the Eastern Cape department of education has been arrested and released on bail.
According to the provincial spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks) Captain Yolisa Mgolodela, the arrest was effected by members of the Hawks’ serious corruption investigation team based in Queenstown.
Lunga Nkrumah Sivuka was arrested at his residence in Mthatha on Monday, March 20 and appeared in the Mthatha Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on the same day where he was charged with fraud.
“It is alleged that in 2020, the department of education advertised an educator’s post at Corana Junior Secondary School,” Mgolodela said.
“The advertisement clearly stated what qualifications were required and the accused allegedly submitted his application for the post stating that he obtained his Bachelor of Education qualification in 2017 from Walter Sisulu University in Mthatha.”
She said it was later established that Sivuka had not in fact passed his final examination and could not have obtained the qualification he allegedly claimed to have obtained.
“Investigations further revealed that the accused lied about his qualification thus causing an actual prejudice of more than R500 000 to the department of education,” Mgolodela said.
The court released Sivuka on R5 000 bail.
The case was postponed to April 25, 2023.
The provincial head of the Hawks, Major General Obed Ngwenya, commended the team for their swift response to the matter in a short space of time.
IOL