Durban - The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) in KwaZulu-Natal has welcomed the arrest of three women who were caught withdrawing money at the ATM at Mangrove Centre in North Beach, Durban.
In a statement on Wednesday, the police said the three were nabbed by a new off-duty constable in her first arrest.
Provincial police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said the vigilant officer was at the Mangrove Centre on Tuesday when she spotted three suspicious-looking women who were withdrawing money at the ATM.
He said the officer requested back-up from the metro police officers who were in the vicinity and tactically approached the suspects.
“The three suspects, aged between 24 and 39 years old, were found in possession of suspected fraudulent Sassa cards which they were using to withdraw money. They were also found in possession of over R60 000 in cash, 32 Sassa cards, 22 bank cards from various banking institutions as well as four cellphones,” he said.
Sassa KZN spokesperson Sandy Godlwana said the department welcomed the arrests of those found in possession of Sassa cards.
“We are pleased that there have been a number of arrests and convictions related to social grant fraud that have been made in the past,” she said.
Sassa subscribes to a zero-tolerance approach pertaining to fraud and corruption, she said.
“The department believes these arrests will be a deterrent to all those aspiring to defraud the system … there will be no leniency shown to anyone who preys on social grants beneficiaries,” said Godlwana.
The suspects will appear in the Durban Magistrate’s Court soon.
