School CSI programme cash allegedly diverted to private account, bursaries for pals: Hawks arrest IEC commissioner

Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) commissioner Dr Nomsa Praisy Masuku has been arrested by the Hawks' serious commercial crime investigation unit for allegedly defrauding the Adopt a School Trust.

Masuku, 62, was arrested on Friday morning and appeared at the Johannesburg specialised commercial crimes court on charges of fraud.

She was granted bail of R20,000, said Hawks spokesperson Col Katlego Mogale.

Masuku is a former Standard Bank employee and was head of the bank's corporate social investment (CSI) programme for the trust set up to provide scholarships and bursaries to deserving pupils.

“Through an intensive probe, the Hawks investigators established [she allegedly] flaunted the processes of the trust by awarding scholarships to friends and family members through manipulation of documents and without the approval of the committee, with some of the monies deposited directly into her personal bank account to the tune of R1.2m,” Mogale said.

The case was postponed to September 4.

Masuku was appointed as an IEC commissioner in 2018. According to her profile on the IEC website, she started her career in election management in 1998. She developed the commission’s strategy and implementation framework for education for democracy development. Her work included the provision and promotion of civic, balloting and voter education.  

The IEC said she took a seven-year hiatus from the commission when she worked for Standard Bank's CSI programme, “where she used her skill set to develop and implement strategies for the bank’s facilitative role in community development”. 

Masuku's CV states she has a PhD in applied English linguistics from the University of Birmingham, UK, and contributed to the body of work related to South Africa's national curriculum statement.

She has also worked with women's groups including Women and the Law in Southern Africa, the Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse, and a range of civil society groupings focusing on conflict mediation, youth and women. 

TimesLIVE