SANDF Reserve Members and ‘Phantom Employees’ in Court Over R1 Million Fraud Scheme

Pretoria – Members of the South African Defence Force (SANDF), along with their co-defendants, have appeared in the Pretoria Commercial Crimes Court, facing charges of defrauding their employer of more than one million rand.

The individuals accused of defrauding SANDF of R1.1 million include:

• SANDF Reserve Force member, 33-year-old Thandile Ndevu;
• SANDF Human Resource (HR) clerk, 29-year-old Khanya Ndevu;
• Thirty-year-old Avuyile Ndzuta;
• Thirty-six-year-old Thembisile Dlamini;
• Forty-five-year-old Thozamile Herbert Loni and
• Thirty-three-year-old Yonelisa Gova

Thandile Ndevu, Khanya Ndevu, and Avuyile Ndzuta are cousins, while Thembisile Dlamini and Thozamile Loni are married. Yonelisa Gova is a friend of Thandile Ndevu.

All accused appeared in court on Thursday, 26 June 2025.

Thandile Ndevu is facing 53 counts of fraud or theft and an equal number of money laundering counts.

Both Khanya Ndevu and Thembisile Dlamini face 11 counts of fraud or theft and 11 counts of money laundering.

Avuyile Ndzuta is encountering 10 counts of fraud or theft, as well as 10 counts of money laundering.

Yonelisa Gova is charged with 21 counts of fraud or theft and 21 counts of money laundering.

It is alleged that between July 2018 and July 2019, Thandile Ndevu, working in the HR unit, improperly entered details of SANDF reserve force members and falsely claimed that they had been called for duty.

Further allegations claim that during this time, Thandile Ndevu altered the banking information of the reserve force members to that of her co-defendants, directing payments for service accordingly.

According to Lumka Mahanjana, spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority Gauteng, the irregularities were revealed when a complainant, whose information was misused, tried to submit her tax documents.

The complainant discovered that the South African Revenue Service (SARS) required two IRP5 forms instead of just one.

Upon inquiring with SANDF HR, she uncovered the existence of four alleged ghost workers.

The case was then reported to the Pretoria Central police station.

Mahanjana indicated that the case was handed over to military police for further investigation.

“Following military police investigations, the six accused were summoned via a J175 summons,” Mahanjana explained.

The court proceedings have been postponed to 15 August 2025 for plea and trial.