
PORT ELIZABETH - An application by the defence to have convicted fraudster Portia Sizani’s case taken on special review was dismissed in the Port Elizabeth Commercial Crimes Court on Tuesday.
Earlier in March, Sizani, wife of South Africa’s ambassador to Germany and former African National Congress Chief Whip Stone Sizani, was found guilty of 15 counts of fraud and nine counts of money laundering.
She defrauded the Eastern Cape education department out of more than R1.2 million by processing several fraudulent applications for Grade R teaching posts.
Sizani was the Early Childhood Development (ECD) district co-ordinator at the time she appointed “ghost teachers” and pocketed their pay during 2009 and 2010.
In July, defence advocate Johan Wessels brought the application for special review citing that the defence was forced to close its case when it was not ready to do so.