A 48-year-old Malawian-born permanent South African resident, his 48-year-old South African wife, and his 39-year-old South African-born brother-in-law are expected to appear before the Middelburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday, 18 May 2026, following their arrest on charges of fraud and money laundering dating back to 2020.
The main suspect, a director of a construction company, allegedly unduly benefited from the COVID-19 Temporary Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) administered through the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), resulting in a confirmed loss of R26,943,793.19 to the UIF. The company allegedly claimed benefits for more than 700 ghost employees.
A joint investigation by the Hawks’ Nelspruit-based Serious Corruption Investigation unit, the Unemployment Insurance Fund, the Special Investigating Unit, and the National Prosecuting Authority Asset Forfeiture Unit revealed that the funds were channeled into various bank accounts, including those belonging to the company director, his wife and her company, as well as his brother-in-law, allegedly for personal enrichment.
Further investigations indicated that the funds were used to acquire movable and immovable assets. The brother-in-law allegedly played a significant role in recruiting individuals under false promises of employment. Some identification particulars used in the claims allegedly belonged to former employees of the company.
The three suspects handed themselves over to the Hawks on Sunday, 17 May 2026, and were subsequently processed.
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