An employee of the Department of Home Affairs who manipulated the national population register by falsely issuing BI-1663 forms (notice of death form) to reflect the fictitious death of citizens, was found guilty of fraud and the contravention of the Birth and Death Registration Act.
Dawn Celeste Pieterson (45), who was based at the Home Affairs office in Calvinia in the Northern Cape, was found guilty on Wednesday, 1 October, in the Calvinia Magistrates’ Court.
Lieutenant Colonel Tebogo Thebe, spokesperson of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks), said Pieterson was found guilty on nine counts of fraud, as well as two counts of the contravention of the Birth and Death Registration Act.
As part of her duties, Pieterson had access to the national population register. She took out funeral covers from reputable insurance companies and nominated herself as a beneficiary.
When manipulating the national population register by falsely issuing the notice of death forms, the system registered the affected persons as deceased, resulting in a plethora of problems in these persons’ day-to-day lives.
Her misdeeds took place from February 2019 to September 2022.
The matter was postponed to 26 January for sentencing, said Thebe.
