Isuzu worker accused of R10.5m theft cannot afford lawyer, court hears

Story audio is generated using AI

As mystery surrounds what happened to the R10.5m a former Isuzu employee allegedly stole from her colleagues, the court heard on Tuesday that she was unable to afford a private attorney.

Natasja Slabbert appeared briefly in the Gqeberha Commercial Crimes Court on charges of fraud and theft.

She made her first court appearance on Monday last week and was granted bail of R5,000.

On Tuesday, it was disclosed that Slabbert wanted to apply for state-funded Legal Aid SA representation.

State prosecutor Theuns de Jager indicated that a Legal Aid lawyer was not immediately available and asked for the matter to be postponed to April 8.

Slabbert’s bail was also extended.

Slabbert was employed as a payroll administrator at Isuzu and was arrested on February 16 after an investigation by the Hawks, working closely with the National Prosecuting Authority’s Specialised Commercial Crime Unit.

She is accused of syphoning off more than R10.5m between January 1 2018 and August 22 2024.

In court on Tuesday, she appeared relaxed.

Asked what Slabbert allegedly spent the money on, Hawks spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Avele Fumba declined to divulge any details.

“At this stage, it would be premature to disclose specific details regarding the alleged handling of the funds, as such information may form part of the ongoing judicial process,” Fumba said.

He said it was Slabbert’s constitutional right to apply for Legal Aid SA representation, and that this did not affect the status of the case.

Legal Aid provincial spokesperson Siphokazi Nogaya said Slabbert had not yet formally applied for legal representation.

Nogaya said should she apply, she would have to do so through the normal application process, which would determine if she qualified.

According to the Legal Aid SA means test, representation is only eligible to applicants involved in criminal and civil matters earning less than R9,100 a month.

According to court papers, Slabbert was initially responsible for administering the weekly payroll.

From April 30 2024, she was further tasked with administering monthly payrolls.

Court papers state that she had authorised access to the Payspace payroll system and the NUTUN Transact Ltd third-party payment system.

This access would have allowed her to prepare, alter and submit payroll and payment information, triggering payments directly from Isuzu’s bank accounts.

Third-party payments are deductions taken from employees’ salaries, along with contributions made by Isuzu, and paid to specific organisations, not to the employees themselves.

These include medical aid, pension or provident fund contributions, insurance premiums, loan repayments, union fees and maintenance payments deducted under garnishee orders.

To make third-party payments, Isuzu used NUTUN, a third-party payment service provider separate from the Payspace payroll system.

Once the Payspace payroll system calculated the amounts payable to third parties, Isuzu would make a single consolidated payment to NUTUN.

NUTUN would then distribute and pay the relevant amounts to the respective third-party recipients.

“The accused was the only payroll administrator at Isuzu who had the NUTUN system installed on her work-issued laptop during the relevant period,” court papers state.

According to the state, Slabbert had two bank accounts registered in her name in which she allegedly deposited the funds.

Fumba said last week that employees raised concerns in August 2024 when they noticed that their take-home pay was less than the amounts reflecting on their payslips.

This, Fumba said, prompted an internal review of the August 2024 payroll, during which an irregular payment of R625,500 was identified as having been processed from Isuzu’s Absa payroll bank account into a bank account allegedly held in her name.