FAKE DIPLOMAT ESCORTED BY COPS, DRAGGED TO COURT

A 24-year-old man, Nhlanhla Sizani, briefly appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday facing charges of fraud, alternative forgery and uttering after he was issued with a summons in December.

The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations (also known as the Hawks) spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale said Sizani made misrepresentations and managed to get South African Police Service (SAPS) escort.

“It is reported that during the 2021 local government elections the accused, Sizani, submitted a fraudulent letter with the United Nations (UN) insignia, requesting the SAPS escort to polling stations for the duration of the elections,” Mogale said.

“Sizani is said to have misrepresented himself as a United Nations (UN) ambassador/diplomat and thus was escorted by SAPS Diplomatic Police Unit to various polling stations as an observer,” she said.

“Through investigation by the Hawks' Crime Against the State within the Serious Organised Crime Investigation, the UN confirmed that Sizani was not an ambassador/diplomat or an observer, and the request for escort was not requested by them.”

Mogale said SAPS suffered actual financial loss as a result of the misrepresentation.

The case was postponed to the January 23 for Sizani to obtain legal representation. IOL

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