Twenty-eight teachers who are members of the SNAT Savings & Credit Co-operative Society in Eswatini have been implicated in a fraudulent loan scheme. The co-operative alleges that the transactions involved the manipulation of loan records and passbooks to obtain loans to which the members were not entitled. This was uncovered in January 2017.
The allegations are contained in an answering affidavit filed by Vusani B. Dlamini, Chief Executive Officer of SNAT Savings & Credit Co-operative Society. The affidavit was filed in opposition to an application by Vulamasango High School teacher Vuyisile Makhathu before the High Court. Makhathu wants the High Court to issue an order compelling the SNAT Savings and Credit Co-operative Society to account for more than eight years of salary deductions.
According to Dlamini, an investigation conducted after the alleged fraud was discovered identified 28 teacher members as having been involved in the fraudulent loan transactions. Makhathu, who is challenging deductions made from her salary in favour of the co-operative, is alleged by SNAT to have been one of the 28 members. Dlamini states that her name appears at number 15 on a list identifying the teachers implicated in the transactions.
The co-operative alleges that the scheme involved its former employee, Mihla Mamba, who was then employed as a clerk in the Loans Department. Dlamini states that Mamba was subsequently subjected to disciplinary proceedings, found guilty and dismissed from employment for fraud and dishonesty. The alleged fraudulent activities began to emerge in early January 2017 after Faith Msibi, a teacher at Ka-Boyce High School, approached the co-operative to complain that a loan she had applied for had not been paid to her.
The discovery prompted a wider investigation into the loan transactions and the extent of the alleged irregularities. At the time, loan applications were allegedly processed manually. Members were required to submit prescribed hard-copy loan application forms together with their red passbooks. Dlamini alleges that the implicated teachers took their manual passbooks from the Loans Department and worked with Mamba to make entries showing that outstanding loans had been paid or cleared.
The veracity of these allegations is still to be tested in court. Makhathu is alleged to have obtained loans totalling E173 940.30 through the scheme. Dlamini alleges that Makhathu colluded with Mamba and that her passbook was manipulated or forged before she applied for and obtained the loans. The co-operative disputes Makhathu’s claim that she was merely one of the members affected by irregular transactions carried out by an employee.
Following the discovery of the transactions, Dlamini states that SNAT reported a criminal case of fraud to the Manzini Police. The 28 implicated teachers were subsequently called to a meeting of the co-operative’s executive committee. At the meeting, each of the implicated members was allegedly asked how they proposed that the matter should be resolved. Makhathu, together with several other implicated members, proposed that the loans allegedly obtained fraudulently should be consolidated and repaid as a single loan.
Key points
- The SNAT Savings & Credit Co-operative Society has implicated 28 teachers in a fraudulent loan scheme involving manipulated loan records and passbooks.
- The alleged scheme involved a former employee of the co-operative, Mihla Mamba, who was found guilty of fraud and dishonesty.
- The implicated teachers, including Vuyisile Makhathu, allegedly obtained loans through the scheme, with Makhathu obtaining E173 940.30.
