FORMER EMPLOYEE SENTENCED TO 10 YEARS IMPRISONMENT FOR FRAUD.
REPORTER: TSHEPO C MOLOTO: The Nelspruit Commercial Crimes Court has sentenced former Eskom Administrative Clerk Nwabisa Ngxola, to 10 years direct imprisonment for defrauding Eskom over R2.6 million. Ngxola was charged along with her two co-accused Michael Chimanzi, a businessman, and Cinderella Moropane, who was also employed by Eskom as Finance Clerk.
The trio were convicted on 114 charges ranging from fraud, theft, and money laundering in December 2022, by the same court. One of the co-accused Michael Chimazi, was sentenced to eight years imprisonment in March 2023, and the case against their co-accused Moropane was postponed to 17 May 2023.
The trio acted in common purpose and submitted fraudulent invoices to Eskom. Ngxola’s password and username were used to capture certain payments to Mandla Lines CC, which is a legitimate company registered in the name of Chimanzi. The three shared the proceeds amongst themselves and they were arrested after the police received a tip-off.
Presenting the state’s case, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Adv. Billy Moalusi led evidence of several witnesses which proved that the invoices were fraudulent. The supervisor of two Eskom officials testified about the extent of the damage caused to the business. Their evidence was supported by the owner of Mandla Lines, who confirmed that they colluded and provided false invoices to Eskom.
Magistrate Sheila Msibi took into consideration the accused personal circumstances, the seriousness of the offence she is convicted of, and the interest of justice. She said Ngxola had enough time to retract herself from the offence, instead, she waited until the whistleblower reported the incident to Eskom. She sentenced the accused to 10 years imprisonment and upon conviction, Ngxola applied for leave to appeal her conviction and sentence which was dismissed.
Fraud is a pandemic that has engulfed our economy and is perpetrated by well-sophisticated people and should be stopped in its tracks.
