By Zweli Martin Dlamini

MBABANE:Sipho Nelson Tsabedze, the Principal Secretary(PS) in the Ministry of Public Service allegedly defrauded Government over R1.2million in undue salaries and allowances, according to documentary evidence including payslips in possession of this publication.

The PS was previously exposed by this Swaziland News Investigation Unit for allegedly forging a birth certificate to avoid retirement,he was subsequently dismissed by the Civil Service Commission(CSC) this week after an Enquiry tasked with verifying the allegations uncovered that indeed, Tsabedze changed his date of birth.

But for the past two(2) years, the PS who was born on the 1st January 1963 and was supposed to retire on the 1st January 2023, has been fraudulently receiving undue salaries amounting to over sixty thousand(R60,000.00) per-month.

This means,apart from forging the date of birth to 27th November 1967, the Principal Secretary went on to defraud the State over R1.2million in undue salaries and as a result, might face possible fraud and corruption criminal charges.

The dismissed Principal Secretary declined to comment about the matter when contacted by this Swaziland News on Monday morning.

Reached for comments by this Swaziland News, lawyer Sibusiso Nhlabatsi said, “forging birth certificates by civil servants is common in the public service” he then wondered why elderly Government employees are reluctant to go on retirement.

“On the issue of the undue salaries, Government can recover those monies.But the police must investigate the fraud of the birth certificate and arrest even the third party at Home Affairs who might have assisted the PS to forge the birth certificate”, said the lawyer.