Police spokesperson Mavela Masondo said that they are looking for seven officials, including the manager of the SASSA office.
Three South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) grant administrators were nabbed on Friday in a morning raid on the agency’s offices in Johannesburg CBD.
The police pounced on the offices in a crackdown as part of a wider operation following the arrest of four suspects, including two females and one Ethiopian national in Soweto last month. The group was caught using fraudulent SASSA cards to withdraw money at a Shoprite store. They had 139 Sassa cards in their possession.
Not arrested because they are on leave
Police spokesperson Mavela Masondo said that they are looking for seven officials, including the manager of the SASSA office.
“In February we arrested four suspects. We continued our investigations and revealed they were working with some SASA employees in this area.
“We are looking for seven of them, linked to the ones arrested in February. Today, we only found three, but we still have others we seek. Unfortunately, we are told they are still on leave,” he explained.
Masondo said the police believe the trio arrested on Friday are part of a bigger syndicate.
“We are still actively searching and will continue investigating until all suspects are apprehended.
“We are talking about the four suspects arrested in February and the seven we are looking for today. In total, that makes eleven. But we believe it is a much bigger syndicate,” he said.
Mastermind still on the loose
Masondo said the alleged kingpin was still at large.
“This shows that many people are involved. One of the main suspects we are still searching for is believed to be the mastermind behind the operation.”
