Sassa fraudster who collected old age grant gets 20 years

A 67-year-old woman who fraudulently collected an older person's grant from South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) while being the sole director of a company that made millions from police tenders has been sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment.

- Faizel Patel

Sarathamoney Devi Sigamoney appeared in the Pretoria North Regional Court on Tuesday, where the sentence was handed down.

Magistrate Pieter Nel sentenced Sigamoney to two years' imprisonment for perjury, five years for each of the two counts of fraud, three years for theft, and five years for contravening the Social Assistance Act by making misrepresentations to get the grant from the Sassa.

Investigating Directorate Against Corruption spokesperson Henry Mamothame said the court ordered that some of the sentences be served concurrently, leading to an effective 10-year jail term.