For over 10 years, a crook without proper qualifications worked in top positions in the KwaZulu-Natal government and nobody noticed.
Premiers Zweli Mkhize, Senzo Mchunu, Willies Mchunu and Sihle Zikalala did not realise they had an incompetent and unqualified manager in their core staff.
Between 2010 and 2019, he was employed as the project manager in the office of the premier after submitting fraudulent qualifications.
The 40-year-old apparently aced the interview and got the job.
In 2019, he applied for the position of deputy director and his application was successful.
While he was doing that job, the Department of Public Administration (DPA) became suspicious when he was taking too long to present original documents instead of copies.
Over the years, he created copies and bribed commissioners of oaths to certify the copies without presenting the originals.
Members of the Hawks in KZN arrested the man on Monday after the DPA charged him at the Pietermaritzburg Police Station.
Captain Simphiwe Mhlongo said: “It was discovered that his qualifications were fraudulent and disciplinary steps were instituted against him. The Office of the Premier was defrauded of R3,720,422 and a case of fraud was reported at Pietermaritzburg Police Station. The case docket was allocated to Hawks members for further investigation.”
The alleged fraudster is due to appear at the Pietermaritzburg Regional Court on 16 March 2023.
In April 2021, over 35% of senior managers in government did not have the requisite qualifications for their positions.
“By 31 January 2022, the figure reduced by almost 10% to 25.9%. As it stands, the qualifications of 2,412 out of 9,309 senior managers are not reflected on Persal,” Public Service and Administration Minister Thulas Nxesi told Parliament.
