Official from KZN premier’s office charged in fake qualifications case
A former official from the Office of the KwaZulu-Natal Premier has been formally charged for allegedly using fake qualifications.
The 40-year-old was arrested by the Hawks in Pietermaritzburg on Tuesday.
The unit's KZN spokesperson Simphiwe Mhlongo says the man applied for a project manager's post in 2010 with the alleged fraudulent qualifications.
He says he later got promoted to a deputy-director position.
"He applied again in 2019 and supplied fraudulent qualifications and he was appointed to that post. As a result, the office of the premier paid him more than R3 million in terms of remunerations, whereas he was not supposed to be hired in the first place.
"He was requested by the Department of Public Works to submit his original qualifications for verification. He failed to do that. When the Office of the Premier was instituting disciplinary steps he opted to resign and a case of fraud was reported."
Mhlongo says the man was issued with a summons before he was formally charged and then released.
He'll make his first court appearance next month.
"During our investigation, he appears from the institution, which is the University of KwaZulu-Natal Westville campus, where it claims he obtained that qualification.
"The university confirms that yes, the person registered but never finished the qualification. Where did he get the copy? Hence more charges could be added, charges like forgery."
