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Leonard Ncube Senior Court Reporter
LUPANE Local Board could have lost thousands of dollars in potential revenue after one of its accounts clerks allegedly stole money on numerous occasions by destroying receipt books. The local authority had to advertise in the Press after noticing a year later, that some pages from its receipt books were missing. It was through a response by a few clients who took their receipts to the local board that it was discovered that Nobuhle Nyathi, 35, who resides at Old Stands in the Matabeleland North Provincial capital, had been receiving money from clients, receipting it but not banking it.

She would allegedly pluck off carbon copies of receipts to destroy evidence and the local authority is in the dark as to how much it could have lost from money paid by clients for licences and several other services.

A series of receipts are still missing and it is yet to be established how much had been entered, Lupane resident magistrate Aelene Munamati heard.
Nyathi faces 15 counts of fraud, five of theft and two of forging Ordinary Level certificates after she allegedly used fake school certificates to be employed by Kusile Rural District Council and later transferred to Lupane Local Board.

The crimes were allegedly committed between February and August 2013.
She has denied the charges, saying she was not the only one who was responsible for receipting clients’ money as other employees, Linda Ncube and Patrick Shonhayi performed similar duties.

Nyathi also claimed at some point the contentious receipt books went missing only to be found later with pages missing.
The State led by Sanders Sibanda wants to pin her down, saying it was her duty to receive money, issue receipts and consolidate books of accounts and before banking it.

Prosecutors allege that Nyathi would give clients receipts but also tear off the carbon copy meant to remain in the receipt book.
The actual prejudice is not known as Nyathi would allegedly pluck off carbon copy receipts to conceal her actions and a few receipts from clients who responded to the advert calling for missing receipts numbers show only about $1,000 that was stolen while only about $5,835 was reportedly banked.

The rest of the receipts are still missing, it is alleged.
Nyathi also allegedly defrauded the local board of about $11,753 in salaries, which she received between April 9, 2009 and her arrest last year when the local board employed her without proper qualifications.

Prosecutors say it is difficult for the local authority to know how much it lost because of a series of receipts that are still missing. Zimsec dishonoured the two forged certificates, one in which she purported that she wrote her O’ Level examinations in 1990 at Luveve High School in Bulawayo yet the counterfeit certificate, which had four subjects, bore the centre number for Embakwe Mission in Matabeleland South.

On the second one, she claimed she sat for the examinations at Gogo High School in Lupane and she was caught after enrolling for a course in Secretarial Studies at Bulawayo Polytechnic College where she had forged a certificate for Mathematics and Science to get a place.

The offences came to light when Ncube, who is a bookkeeper, discovered that some receipts were missing. A report was made to the police leading to Nyathi’s arrest.
Nyathi, who has been dumped by three lawyers since the trial started last year, will know her fate on April 14 when the magistrate makes her judgment.