Student financial aid fraudster sentenced to 18 years
11 February 2022
The Mthatha Specialised Commercial Crimes Court has sentenced Siyambonga Mhlakaza (35) for siphoning R1,2 million from Walter Sisulu University (WSU).
He was sentenced to 18 years on the counts of money laundering, and 15 years for 81 counts of fraud, which were treated as one. The court ordered the sentences to run concurrently.
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 claims 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 to 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 R6000 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 would 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 16 March 2022, has been separated from Mhlakaza’s.
State Adv 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”.
Issued by Luxolo Tyali, NPA Regional Spokesperson, 11 February 2022
