Two Johannesburg sisters who defrauded the Gauteng health department have been ordered to pay back R4.5m by the Special Tribunal on Wednesday.
The application was launched by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and the Gauteng health MEC after it sought to recover the funds fraudulently obtained by Nosipho Zibani, her sister Phindile Zibani and two others.
They were accused of teaming up to defraud the provincial department of health by creating fictitious medico-legal claims.
Nosipho was employed by the state attorney in Johannesburg as an assistant state attorney. She served in the medical negligence unit.
The second defendant is Yolanda Hlatshwayo and the fourth defendant was identified as Ntandokazi Trading.
Hlatshwayo is a nurse by profession.
One of the cases Nosipho represented the provincial health department in included defending matters where there was alleged negligent conduct of medical health professionals working in a public health institution, resulting in a child being born with cerebral palsy.
"Together with the other cited defendants, Nosipho allegedly perpetrated fraudulent schemes that caused the damages the MEC seeks to recover in these proceedings," the judgment read.
Evidence presented before judge Lebohang Modiba presiding over the Special Tribunal found that the scheme ran for a number of years between January 2015 to April 2019 with payments amounting to more than R4.5m.
Modiba wrote: "Hlatshwayo purportedly issued invoices to the state attorney in matters assigned to Nosipho as the attorney of record for the MEC when Hlatshwayo did not render such services. The invoices were purportedly in relation to midwifery medico-legal services Hlatshwayo rendered in the relevant matters.
"The said invoices reflected Hlatshwayo’s banking details as the bank account into which the office of the state attorney should make payment to Hlatshwayo for the said services.
"The state attorney duly made payments to Hlatshwayo in respect of the said invoices. On receipt of the payments by the office of the state attorney, Hlatshwayo made payments into a Capitec bank account held in Phindile’s name.
"On receipt of the payments by Hlatshwayo, Phindile remitted money into an FNB account held in Nosipho’s name," Modiba wrote.
The invoices would reflect that Ntandokazi Trading rendered assessments to the state attorney which resulted in payments being made.
The accused argued in their plea that the health MEC did not suffer any loss as a result of Nosipho's alleged fraudulent conduct.
Modiba ordered that Nosipho 's pension benefits be withheld by the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) pending criminal investigation.
"The pension benefits are declared forfeited to the MEC to the extent of Nosipho’s indebtedness to the MEC in respect of the judgment debt."
In a statement on Wednesday, SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said a probe in the state attorney’s accounting department showed nine fraudulent invoices amounting to R4.4m were paid by the state attorney to Ntandokazi Trading.
"The findings prompted the launch of disciplinary proceedings against Nosipho. She resigned from the office of the state attorney before the disciplinary proceedings commenced.
"Furthermore, the Special Tribunal ordered that the defendants are jointly and severally ordered to pay the legal costs on the scale between attorney and client, including costs of two counsel.
"The outcome of the Special Tribunal is a continuation of implementation of the SIU investigation outcomes and consequence management to recover assets and financial losses suffered by state institutions to prevent further losses," Kganyago said.
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