Two nurses face fraud and corruption charges for allegedly faking the birth of twins at a provincial hospital to enable a relative to pocket the child support grant.
Gladys Ntlawuzana-Komboyi, 48, Nwabisa Precious Godlwana, 36, Mantshangase Abigail Godlwana, 59, and Gcobisa Godlwana, 22, appeared in the Mthatha specialised commercial crime court on Tuesday.
Ntlawuzana-Komboyi is a maternity ward nurse and Nwabisa Godlwana a paediatric ward nurse at Bambisana Hospital in Lusikisiki, Eastern Cape.
Gcobisa Godlwana and Mantshangase Godlwana are close relatives of Nwabisa Godlwana.
Hawks spokesperson W/O Ndiphiwe Mhlakuvana said Ntlawuzana-Komboyi allegedly fraudulently registered the birth of twins at the hospital on November 18 2022, as requested by Nwabisa Godlwana.
Gcobisa Godlwana allegedly applied for birth certificates at the Flagstaff department of home affairs on November 29 2022 under the pretence of being the twins’ mother.
Her mother, Mantshangase Godlwana, applied on her behalf for a child support grant from the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) branch in Bizana.
“The allegations came after the other patron went to Bizana home affairs to register a fraudulent birth certificate of a nonexisting child and the department picked up discrepancies about this matter of the Godlwana family,” said Mhlakuvana.
An investigation by the Hawks revealed R4,892 in child support grants had been paid to Mantshangase Godlwana.
“The investigation showed those twins that were fraudulently registered at home affairs and received the [grant] payout did not exist.”
The four were arrested by the Bizana-based Hawks serious corruption investigation team of the Hawks on Monday. They were released on bail of R3,000 each and the case was postponed to October 9.
Source Bulawayo24
