NHLANHLA Sizani (24), who is accused of posing as a UN official, appeared briefly in the Pretoria Magistrates Court on Tuesday, 16 January.
He faces charges of fraud, alternative forgery and uttering after a summon was issued on 12 December 2023.
The accusations revolve around an incident during the 2021 Local Government Elections (LGE), where Sizani allegedly sent a fraudulent letter bearing the United Nations (UN) insignia, seeking South African Police Service (SAPS) escort to polling locations throughout the election period.
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Colonel Katlego Mogale, a spokeswoman for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations (Hawks), said in a statement that Sizani misrepresented himself as a United Nations (UN) Ambassador or Diplomat and was thus escorted by the SAPS Diplomatic Police Unit to various polling stations as an observer.
"Through an investigation by the Hawks' Crime Against the State within Serious Organised Crime Investigation, the UN confirmed that Sizani was not an ambassador or diplomat (observer), and the request for escort was not requested by them," Mogale said.
He said that the SAPS department suffered actual financial loss as a result of the misrepresentation.
The case had been postponed to Tuesday, 23 January, so that the accused may receive legal representation.
