Joyce Catherine Phiri (66) and Elias Koketso Mongale (59) appeared before the Molopo Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, 05 March 2025 facing charges of fraud and contravention of tax administration Act on cases emanating from Project Expresso.
They were arrested by the Mahikeng based Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation on Tuesday, 04 March 2025 following their fraudulent activities in declaring their gross income to the South African Revenue Service (SARS)
Probe into the matter revealed that Joyce Catherine Phiri was registered with SARS for personal tax income, however she failed to declare her gross income between the years 2016 to 2022. It is further alleged that she also omitted to submit returns for tax assessment despite constant reminders from revenue officials. Reports indicate that in some instances, Phiri either
under-declared her income or misrepresented herself by making false entries to evade tax. As a result SARS suffered a total prejudice amounting to R1.9 million.
Investigation revealed that Elias Koketso Mongale defrauded SARS by submitting personal income tax with false information that he received no taxable income between 2015 and 2022. As a result SARS suffered a total loss of R1.8 million.
They appeared before Court and Phiri was released on R5000-00 bail while Mongale was released on R3000-00 bail. Both their matters were postponed to 16 April 2025 for further investigation.
The North West Acting Provincial Head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, Brigadier Silas Munzhedzi and the Director of Public Prosecutions in North West, Dr Rachel Makhari welcome the arrest and commended the investigation and prosecution team for their collaborative efforts with SARS to fight tax corruption and ensure that perpetrators are brought to book.
