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Police vans at the scene of an arrest.
Five people, who include a senior official from the Bloemfontein branch of the Department of Labour, and four civilians have been arrested in connection with fraudulent Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) claims.
The countrywide crackdown was launched five months ago.
One of the arrests so far was made in Gauteng while the others are from the Free State.
Police spokesperson Motantsi Makhele says arrests are ongoing.
#sapsFS #SAPS hits hard in major fraud and corruption bust around the Free State Province.
This comes after months of meticulous investigation into a sophisticated scam involving the fraudulent claims of UIF payments. It is alleged that the masterminds behind this operation… pic.twitter.com/E4LEa2pP34
— SA Police Service 🇿🇦 (@SAPoliceService) July 3, 2025
Makhele says some of the suspects will be arrested in Bethlehem and parts of Gauteng.
Makhele adds that they anticipate that by Thursday, they will be arresting about 20 people and have just done their third pick up.
“And I believe in other places there are still pickups being done. This comes from fraudulent UIF claims which were made. And you’ll be aware that one of the people who has just been arrested it’s an official from labour. We expect that there will be civilians who will be arrested who were also conniving in the matter. We expect the arrested people to appear in court by Monday maybe,” says Makhele.
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