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A ZIMBABWEAN man who lived the high life in South Africa on a forged identity has been jailed after authorities uncovered he secured a cushy chief financial officer job using fake documents.
Kudakwashe Mpofu (33) was this week slapped with three years behind bars by the Molopo Specialised Commercial Crimes Court after he admitted he used a bogus South African permanent residence permit to land a top post at the North West Development Corporation.
Mpofu’s meteoric rise began in 2021 when he joined the State owned entity as an asset manager using falsified paperwork. Two years later, in June 2023, he was promoted to CFO, placing him in charge of millions in public funds while pocketing a salary of R1.63 million per year. In total, he raked in more than R3 million.
Investigators from the Hawks discovered the permit he used never existed in Home Affairs records. Mpofu later confessed he bought the fake document for R3 000 from a private individual.
The Special Investigating Unit said their probe uncovered a stash of other fraudulent papers in his possession, among them a Critical or Exceptional Skills Visa, a work permit and an exemption certificate curiously dated 1996 when he was just five years old.
Armed with the forged documents, Mpofu stayed in South Africa long after his student visa expired. He even obtained a local driver’s licence and secured vehicle financing for a Land Rover Sport, a BMW 3 Series and a Ford Ranger.
The case followed a 2023 tip off to Home Affairs and forms part of a wider SIU investigation into fake visas and permits. Evidence handed to the National Prosecuting Authority sealed Mpofu’s fate.
The court handed him an additional three year suspended sentence on top of the direct jail term.
Reacting to the ruling, Democratic Alliance spokesperson on Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism in the North West, Johni Steenkamp, said the punishment reflects the seriousness of the deception and its impact on public institutions.
“This was not a simple oversight. It was a deliberate fraud that allowed an unqualified candidate to take over a critical financial office,” he said.
Steenkamp added that the scandal exposes worrying weaknesses in NWDC recruitment systems, saying someone in authority approved Mpofu’s appointment without proper checks.
“The individual responsible is still in the system,” he warned.
– The Star
