South African trio arrested over R26 million Covid-19 relief fraud scheme

More than 700 ghost workers, R26,943,793.19 in alleged losses, and a family trio now facing the courts. That is the shape of the Covid-19 relief scheme investigators say ran through Company F and A Consulting CC in Mpumalanga, where a 48-year-old Malawian-born permanent South African resident, his 48-year-old wife and his 39-year-old brother-in-law were arrested over fraud and money laundering.

Authorities allege the claims were pushed into the Unemployment Insurance Fund’s Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme between October 2020 and January 2021, at the height of the pandemic. The brother-in-law is accused of playing a central role in recruiting people under false promises of employment, while investigators say the company listed more than 700 names of supposed employees who had never worked there, draining a fund meant to keep vulnerable households afloat.

The National Prosecuting Authority’s Asset Forfeiture Unit secured a restraint order on February 16, 2026, under Section 26 of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act, freezing more than R26 million in assets linked to the case. Prosecutors say the money was then used to buy movable and immovable property worth more than R31 million, including vehicles and funds held in linked bank accounts. The matter is due before the Middelburg Magistrate’s Court in Nelspruit, with the Hawks, the UIF and the Special Investigating Unit all tied into the investigation.

Maj.-Gen. Nico Gerber, the Mpumalanga provincial head of the Hawks, praised the joint work of the agencies as the case moved forward. The arrest comes as the UIF continues to chase down pandemic-era fraud, after the fund paid out about R57 billion to at least 240,000 entities during Covid-19 and the SIU told Parliament that many of those claims were fraudulent. UIF Commissioner Teboho Maruping has said fraudsters should know "the net is closing in on them," as the fund leans on audits and enforcement to claw money back.

The broader tally is already grim. By December 31, 2024, Hawks boss Godfrey Lebeya said 64 Covid-19 relief-fraud cases were still pending on court rolls nationwide, while 27 convictions had already been secured. In Mpumalanga, the alleged trail starts with ghost names and ends with frozen assets, and the family at the center of it now has to answer for every rand.