-
Sassa signage board seen outside the head office.
The eleventh suspect in the SASSA multimillion-rand fraud case is still at large. Ten people appeared in the Lenasia Magistrate’s Court in the south of Johannesburg for allegedly defrauding SASSA of over R250 million.
Seven of the arrested are SASSA employees and three are members of the public, including an Ethiopian national.
The suspects attempted to have their identities concealed by covering their faces with masks and hoodies. An eleventh suspect is on the run.
Much to the disapproval of the magistrate.
Magistrate Maggie van der Merwe says, “I will no longer and unless any of the defence come give me compelling reasons, I will instruct the accused to remove their masks and hoodies, I would like to see the accused…witnesses.”
The Legal counsel of some of the suspects expressed concern over the multiple postponements. Bringing to light the backlog pressures faced by the courts.
“I cannot just push this matter because then I am showing preferential treatment to one case over the other cases. I treat all my cases the same. They are all important to me,” Van der Merwe explains.
SASSA spokesperson Paseka Letsatsi has urged the wanted individual to go to the police.
“The best thing that we can advise her to do is to hand herself over to the police. So that if she is innocent the courts are there to precede on whether she is innocent or guilty. If you run away from the law it’s not going to help. From us as SASSA we appeal to her to hand herself over to the police. It’s the right thing to do.”
The matter is back in court next month for a formal bail application.
