Two suspects arrested after Sassa employee blows whistle on corruption

Two suspects who allegedly bribed a South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) official to register elderly people for social grants outside the normal procedure were arrested in Roodepoort on Wednesday. 

The suspects, aged 45 and 70, will appear in the Roodepoort magistrate’s court on Friday to face charges of corruption and possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition. 

 “It is alleged that a whistle blower alerted the members of the [Hawks] of the suspects' intentions. They allegedly approached the employee of Sassa with a proposal of working together in registering elderly social grant employees with the agency,” Hawks spokesperson Col Katlego Mogale said. 

She said the suspects promised that each application would be accompanied with R1,000 for processing.   

“The initial batch of 15 application was handed to the employee with a R15,000 enticement to process the applications outside the normal procedure.” 

She said the second batch of 20 applications and R23,150 was handed over on Thursday and both suspects were arrested at Sassa offices in Roodepoort.

When police searched the suspects' vehicle, they found an unlicensed firearm and ammunition. 

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