The Mthatha Specialised
Commercial Crimes Court sentenced Siyambonga Mhlakaza (35) to undergo 18 years’ imprisonment for siphoning R1,2 million from Walter Sisulu University
(WSU).
He was sentenced to 18 years on the
count of money laundering and 15 years for 81 counts of fraud, which were
treated as one. The court ordered the sentences to run concurrently.
The court delivered its verdict
on February 11.
Mhlakaza pleaded guilty,
admitting to having been part of a scam that saw allowances meant for
financially disadvantaged students and salaries of academic staff diverted to
his bank accounts.
At least 81 students, some of
whom ended up dropping out of the university due to financial challenges, were
affected.
In his plea explanation, Mhlakaza
claimed to have been approached by a WSU employee working at the Financial Aid
Bureau section, who asked for his bank accounts to deposit funds in them. He said the financial challenges he faced then, made him agree.
Mhlakaza, a Rhodes University
Bachelor of Pharmacy dropout, has not revealed the name of the WSU employee to
authorities, but he admitted that he gave the person his banking details.
Subsequently, deposits ranging between R6 000 and R89 000 were made into his
accounts between April and June 2016.
He further acknowledged to the
court that he transferred the money to different bank accounts he held with
different banks to conceal, disguise the nature, source, location, disposition
and movement of the money, which he spent for his benefit.
The fraudster further confessed
that he called Intelimali, a private company responsible for the distribution
of allowance to students and pretended to be a qualifying student who wanted to
check allowances and change their banking details.
Intelimali officials will then
deposit funds due to these students in his different accounts.
WSU launched an internal
investigation after an alarm was raised by one of the students, whose allowance
was not paid into her account. The investigation revealed that funds from
the Motsepe Foundation and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS)
had been diverted to Mhlakaza and other persons.
The subsequent investigation by
the South African Police Services’ Provincial Commercial Investigation’s
Sergeant, Thembani Langeni, led to Mhlakaza’s arrest in May 2021. He was
arrested and charged with his accomplices, Nolufefe Matera, Sibongiseni
Matshamba and Loyiso Siyo. The three have pleaded not guilty and their trial,
which is due in court on March 16, has been separated from Mhlakaza’s.
State Advocate Ncedo Buso implored the court to sentence Mhlakaza to a direct
imprisonment term of not less than 15 years.
He argued that not even a single
cent of the money defrauded and laundered by Mhlakaza had been recovered. The prosecutor added that Mhlakaza’s admission of guilt was not a sign of
remorse, but he saw that the evidence against him was overwhelming.
Delivering the sentence,
Magistrate Shylock Ndengezi agreed with the prosecutor and warned WSU officials
who were in the gallery that the mastermind behind the elaborate scam is still
unknown and within their midst because Mhlakaza is refusing to reveal his
identity.
“Your conduct had far-reaching devastating consequences to the
future of poor students,” said Magistrate Ndengezi.
The National Prosecuting
Authority (NPA) welcomes the sentence of the confessed fraudster, who has a
previous conviction of shoplifting in Makhanda. “We hope it will serve as a deterrent
to other would-be white-collar criminals.”
