The Hawks say that 27 people arrested for allegedly defrauding the Mpumalanga Education Department of more than R100 million will appear in the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

Twenty-one suspects were arrested in Mpumalanga, four in Gauteng, one in Limpopo and one in the Western Cape.

Forty-one people, including government officials, service providers and companies, are accused of defrauding the department during the 2019-2020 financial year.

Provincial Hawks spokesperson Magonseni Nkosi says the investigation has been ongoing for years.

“The case action started back in 2018, 2019 and 2020, but the doctor was registered in 2020 when we took, I can say, solid five years trying to investigate this matter to make it a point that we get our facts here. And as a result, we managed to get the 41 warrants of arrest, of which the NPA obviously saw the potential of prosecution in such a case. We managed to arrest 27 of the suspects out of the 41.”

The money was for emergency repairs at 21 schools.

#sapsHAWKS In a decisive, take down operation, the Hawks have arrested 27 suspects, including nine government officials, 14 service providers, and four private individuals, in connection with massive fraud, corruption, and money-laundering scheme that allegedly siphoned more than… pic.twitter.com/M5vpspB2hY

— SA Police Service (@SAPoliceService) February 22, 2026

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