The former Chief Financial Officer of the North West Development Corporation (NWDC), Kudakwashe Mpofu has been sentenced to three years’ imprisonment in terms of Section 276(1)(i) of the Criminal Procedure Act for fraud by the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court sitting in Molopo.
Mpofu received an additional three years’ imprisonment, wholly suspended for five years, on condition that he is not convicted of fraud during the period of suspension.
The 33-year-old was arrested in January 2025 by members of the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation unit following probes into the use of a fraudulent South African permanent residence permit.
The court heard that in March 2021, the NWDC advertised a position of Asset Manager based at its head office in Mahikeng. Mpofu applied for the post and submitted all required documentation, including a fraudulent permanent residence permit. He was appointed on 01 May 2021 and later promoted to Chief Financial Officer on 1 June 2023.
Investigations revealed that the permit submitted by Mpofu had never been issued by the Department of Home Affairs.
During the trial, Mpofu pleaded guilty to both counts of fraud.
In aggravation of sentence, Advocate Nkhetheni Mudau argued that fraud remains a serious and prevalent offence in South Africa, particularly within the jurisdiction of the court. The accused, he noted, failed to disclose how he obtained the fraudulent document and benefited financially, earning over R3 million during his tenure at the entity.
Welcoming the outcome, the Director of Public Prosecutions in the North West, Dr Rachel Makhari, commended Advocate Mudau for bringing the matter to a finality.
“These sentences underscore the NPA’s commitment to combating and prosecuting commercial crimes that undermine public trust and institutional integrity,” she said.
