A former teacher from Mpumalanga, who utilised a fake matric certificate to build a teaching career spanning more than a decade, has been sentenced after pleading guilty to fraud.
The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) reports that 43-year-old Nomalanga Labane secured a fraudulent matric certificate in 2003. This followed repeated failures to pass her matric examinations. Labane subsequently used the forged document to obtain a teaching degree from Walter Sisulu University.
She proceeded to work at schools in Amersfoort for several years until a whistleblower exposed the fraud in 2022. According to Hawks spokesperson Magonseni Nkosi, investigators discovered that the Mpumalanga Department of Education lost more than R1.1 million through her unlawful employment.
“She appeared in court on several occasions before eventually pleading guilty to all charges on 26 March 2026. On 7 May 2026, Labane was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, wholly suspended for five years on condition that she is not convicted of similar offences during the suspension period. As a result of her fraudulent activities, the Mpumalanga Department of Education suffered a financial loss of more than one million rand.”
Puleng Maake
www.ewn.co.za
