On Tuesday 27 September 2022, Hawks arrested two former post office employees and their partners on allegations of fraud, theft and money laundering which amounts to R10 million from Post Office.
Post Office teller Busisiwe Geleba (35) and her former teacher husband Luyanda Geleba (50) were arrested in the afternoon just before 3pm at Ndlovukazi just outside Komani, and then the Hawks proceeded to Cofimvaba to arrest a former police officer Masonwabe Madlingozi (40) and his girlfriend Palesa Sigaqa (37) who was a branch manager at Post Office in Elliott. On Wednesday 28 September, the four suspects were granted a bail of R3000 each in the Mthatha Specialised Commercial Crimes Court.
The Eastern Cape Provincial Hawks spokesperson Captain Yolisa Mgolodela said, “The matter is remanded to 25 November for copies of dockets and others preliminary matters.”
The arrests were made by East London Serious Corruption Investigation team after the Crime Intelligence was informed about Post Office officials allegedly stealing Sassa grants by manipulating the Inter Grant Payment System. The incident occurred between 2020 and 2021 and the information was later handed over to the Hawks for probe. According to Captain Mgolodela the Post Office officials created ghost beneficiaries, fictitious claims, deliberately made information omissions and siphoned cash that was meant to pay Sassa beneficiaries.
“During the collection of evidence last year on July 13, an amount of R139,000 was found at suspects disposal, like their vehicles or residences. Further investigations revealed that more than R10.2 million siphoned from offices of Sassa and that led to the arrests made on Tuesday,” Captain Mgolodela concluded.
All four suspects were found with stacks of cash in possessions by the Hawks. The Eastern Cape Acting Brigadier Tamara Njikelana, has commended the team for their excellent investigative skills
