A 40-year-old woman from Mpumalanga, Ntombelanga Pretty Labane, is set to return to court in November to face fraud charges after allegedly earning over R1.2 million as a school teacher, despite lacking a valid matriculation certificate.
Labane is accused of not having completed her matric, although she possesses a Bachelor of Education (B-Ed) degree. She is alleged to have submitted a fake matric certificate when applying to Walter Sisulu University, where she earned her degree.
Monica Nyuswa, the spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in Mpumalanga, confirmed that Labane’s case has been postponed to November 21 for trial.
The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, known as the Hawks, reported that Labane has been a teacher since 2016, despite failing her matric examinations four times between 2003 and 2006.
Labane, who is currently not in custody, made an appearance at the Amersfoort Magistrate’s Court on October 3 following her arrest by the Hawks on fraud charges.
According to Captain Dineo Sekgotodi, the former spokesperson for the Hawks in Mpumalanga, Labane applied for a position as a business and accounting teacher at Hlelimfundo Secondary School in Amersfoort on September 1, 2016.
She allegedly submitted a resume, a fraudulent matric certificate, her B-Ed degree, and SA Council for Educators (SACE) certificates to the principal, who presented her application to the school management team.
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The team deemed her suitable for the role, and the School Governing Body (SGB) endorsed this decision.
Labane was then allowed to complete the application process, which involved submitting necessary documents that were eventually sent to the Department of Education’s district office in Ermelo for processing.
The investigation into Labane’s qualifications was initiated after a whistle-blower reported her to the Public Service Commission in Mpumalanga, indicating that she had not passed matric.
Subsequent investigations led to findings and recommendations regarding her fraudulent certificate.
The principal, circuit manager, and district office indicated that they did not notice the forgery due to a lack of verification tools for documents.
This prompted the Public Service Commission to refer the case to the Hawks’ serious commercial crime unit in Secunda for further investigation in July 2022.
Further inquiries by the Hawks revealed that Labane had indeed failed her matric examinations all four times she attempted them.
It was also discovered that she had forged a matric certificate using the certificate number of another candidate, Nozipho Ritta Ngema, and the results shown on her counterfeit document were not her actual results.
With the fraudulent matric certificate, Labane gained admission to Walter Sisulu University, where she ultimately obtained her Bachelor of Education degree.
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