The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, commonly known as the Hawks, recently arrested a 36-year-old woman from Kabokweni in Mpumalanga on serious charges related to fraud and violating the Immigration Act.
The woman, identified as Portia Labane, was taken into custody on Tuesday after a whistle-blower’s report brought to light critical irregularities concerning her professional qualifications.
The core of the accusation is that Labane allegedly worked as a teacher for a period of nine years despite never having obtained a matric certificate, which is the fundamental legal prerequisite for securing any teaching position in South Africa.
Hawks spokesperson Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi confirmed that the preliminary investigation revealed Labane had not completed Grade 12. Despite this clear lack of a basic credential, she was hired by the Mpumalanga Department of Education in 2016 and remained in the teaching post until the time of her arrest.
During this nearly decade-long tenure, it is alleged that Labane illegally earned a total of more than R1.2 million in salary and employment benefits. According to the police, the evidence suggests the suspect submitted fraudulent documents in order to secure and maintain her employment.
This not only constitutes a criminal act of deception but also critically undermines the integrity of the entire education system and unjustly takes away job opportunities from legitimately qualified professionals.
Following her arrest, Labane made a brief appearance in the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, where she formally faced charges of fraud, forgery, and uttering. She was granted bail set at R5,000 and is scheduled to return to court on January 15, 2026, as the case has been postponed to allow for further investigation.
In response to the revelations, the Mpumalanga Department of Education has initiated its own internal probe and immediately placed Labane on suspension pending formal disciplinary proceedings. Department spokesperson Gerald Nkosi stated that officials are both “shocked and disappointed” by the allegations and have pledged their full cooperation with the law enforcement agencies.
Nkosi acknowledged the department’s concern, confirming they would thoroughly investigate any lapse in the strict vetting processes that allowed the alleged fraudulent qualifications to go unnoticed for such an extended period.
This incident has reignited public debate about potential loopholes in the hiring and verification systems across the education sector, prompting teaching unions to call for more robust background checks and the digitisation of qualification records to safeguard against similar crimes.
The Hawks are actively encouraging the public to come forward with any information regarding qualification fraud within the public service, stressing that such deception compromises service delivery and depletes vital state resources.
