South African scammer Ntombelanga Pretty Labane earned R1,292,382 (approximately $70,500) during her teaching career, which appeared to have been going smoothly until now, even without getting her matriculation certificate in the first place, local media reported on Saturday.
Labane was exposed when an informant, who knew that the woman had failed her matriculation exam, reported the matter to the Public Service Commission office in Mpumalanga, the region where she worked.
When the investigation began, it turned out that everyone who checked Labane's documents — the school principal, the circuit manager and the district office — did not notice that they were fake because they didn't have detectors to check the validity of the documents, the media reported, citing Captain Dineo Sekgotodi, spokesperson of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation.
Upon further investigation, it was discovered that Labane had attempted to obtain her matriculation certificate four times, from 2003 to 2006, but failed each time.
Labana may have lacked school knowledge, but she certainly cannot be called witless, as she managed to forge a matric certificate using someone else's certificate number and then, using this document, applied to study at Walter Sisulu University, where she received a bachelor's degree in education.
Moreover, she managed to escape justice for some time. However, she eventually had to stand trial.
“During the discovery, Labane abandoned the job and disappeared. The investigation was finalized, and the court issued a J175 [summons] on April 16, 2024, against Labane to appear in court. She was traced, arrested, and appeared before the Amersfoort Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, 16 May 2024. The case was postponed to June 13, 2024, for further investigation,” Sekgotodi was quoted as saying.
Labane, however, is not in custody as no arrest warrant has been issued against her, Sekgotodi reportedly explained.
Last October, South African police also re-arrested Internet fraudster Dr. Kingsley Leeto Chele after he escaped from custody earlier. According to the police, he posed as an online doctor to medical professionals on social media and, under the pretext of seeking investment, defrauded them of money for his ambitious projects, which, as it turned out, were never implemented.