Pretoria – The City of Tshwane has suspended four officials from the Finance Department, who are implicated in a refund scam that involved diverting genuine refunds into a private account.
Announcing the move on Thursday, 12 March 2026, the City said the move was part of a “decisive step to safeguard public funds and to weed out corruption, while a criminal case against the alleged culprits proceeds before the courts”.
In a statement made available to The Bulrushes, the City said the suspensions follow an ongoing investigation into suspicious refund payments detected across several municipal accounts, which began in May 2023.
“The matter is now formally before the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court, marking an important step in the City’s efforts to address fraud and reinforce accountability within the municipal financial systems,” the statement said.
“Acting on a formal request from the Finance Department, the city’s Forensic Unit commenced a detailed forensic review of refund processes within the Revenue Management Division.
“The investigation confirmed that irregular transactions had occurred and initially identified seven officials as suspects.
“Further analysis narrowed the scope to an organised syndicate allegedly comprising four city officials working with external accomplices.”
The group is believed to have identified municipal accounts with credit balances and channelled these details to partners, who then submitted fraudulent refund claims while impersonating legitimate account holders.
According to the findings, the fraudulent refunds were ultimately directed into a single private bank account linked to a member of the public.
This mechanism allegedly enabled the syndicate to extract funds from municipal systems over a period of time.
One implicated official resigned before disciplinary proceedings could commence, while the remaining officials became the focus of both internal and criminal processes.
Upon completion of the internal investigation, the City referred the matter to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), better known as the Hawks.
In collaboration with the City’s Forensic Unit, DPCI investigators secured sufficient evidence to charge four officials and one member of the public whose bank account was allegedly used in the scheme.
Four City officials and one member of the public appeared before the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on 4 March 2026, while one former official failed to appear, resulting in a warrant of arrest being issued.
The suspects were released on warning, subject to court conditions, and the case has been adjourned to 29 April 2026.
