MKP chief whip Mmabatho Mokoena-Zondi, who was recently charged with corruption for extorting money from MKP, was convicted of faking her academic qualifications.
Image: Parliament
uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) chief whip, Mmabatho Mokoena-Zondi, who is out on R30,000 bail for extorting money from her party’s parliamentary staff, might be a perpetual fraudster as she was investigated more than a decade ago for faking her academic qualification.
The MKP recently removed Mokoena-Zondi as one of its representatives in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Impeachment Committee after she was granted bail in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court for charges related to allegations that she illegally docked R233,000 from the party’s employees' salaries.
She would appear in the Belville Commercial Crime Court on June 18.
It has been reported that she has since stepped down as the chief whip.
Mokoena-Zondi has not responded to questions sent to her on Saturday, nor has she answered her phone.
SABC News reported that during the bail hearing, it was revealed that she was convicted of another fraud offence in 2016, but the report did not elaborate.
Mokoena-Zondi, who surrendered to the Hawks this week, is charged with extortion and fraud for allegedly deducting up to 60% from the salaries of MKP researchers she recruited without their consent in 2024, with the money ending up in her bank account
She was appointed as the MK Party's National Assembly Chief Whip in February 2026.
It is alleged that she claimed the money was for the welfare of the party in Nkandla, party’s president Jacob Zuma’s hometown, and for Zuma’s legal fees.
Previously known as Seeng Mokoena-Brown, Mokoena-Zondi faced another corruption scandal when she was employed as a municipal manager by Ingwe Municipality, which is now Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma Municipality, between 2010 and 2013.
An MKP senior official, who cannot be named as he is not allowed to speak to the media, said the party was unaware of her past when appointing her as chief whip.
“We did not know that Seeng Mokoena-Brown is Mmabatho Mokoena-Zondi,” the official said.
MKP spokesperson Sifiso Mahlangu said Zuma and party officials would hold a three-day meeting to discuss Mokoena-Zondi’s matter.
“We believe in the principle of innocence until proven guilty, but we are seized with the matter, and we are very concerned about it. At the national officials’ meeting, the decision will be made and communicated,” said Mahlangu.
He said the party will interrogate Mokoena-Zondi following the criminal charge.
“We have seen the Mercury story and we are looking into it,” he said.
Mahlangu said the party was looking at whether or not she disclosed her past before she was deployed to Parliament.
“We have asked for all information, and so we will also look at that fully, and we will also engage the Mercury report.”
The Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) investigated her for allegedly obtaining positions at two municipalities.
At the Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma Municipality, she earned R50,000 monthly after being promoted to a municipal manager (MM) position, using a fake Bachelor's degree certificate, which she claimed was awarded to her by the University of South Africa (UNISA) in 2001.
Before joining Ingwe, Mokoena-Zondi worked for the Emadlangeni Municipality in Utrecht from 2004 as deputy manager of corporate services, and was promoted to director of corporate services in 2006.
The then-Ingwe speaker, Winneth Mtolo, and the then-Emadlangeni MM, Velaphi Kubheka, told the Mercury newspaper at the time that Mokoena-Zondi was appointed to the positions because she possessed a Bachelor’s degree.
While he was KwaZulu-Natal CoGTA spokesperson, Lennox Mabaso said Mokoena-Brown resigned soon after the department started an investigation into her qualifications.
The results of CoGTA’s investigation were never revealed; however, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma Municipality Whip of Council, Vusi Mthembu, confirmed that Mokoena-Zondi is the same person as Mokoena-Brown, who resigned from the municipality amid the investigation against her.
“She worked in my municipality while it was Ingwe. She ran away after it was discovered that she had a fake degree.
“During the bail hearing, her lawyer pleaded for her when she was asked about her previous corruption for faking a UNISA degree, which her lawyer admitted.
“She was charged and convicted,” said Mthembu.
Mthembu said as MM, Mokoena-Zondi was no nonsense especially against the ANC councillors, whom she accused of corruption.
Before being promoted to the MM position, Mokoena-Zondi was hired by the Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma Municipality as Corporate and Social Development manager.
Despite having told the Mercury in 2013 that she did not have a Bachelor’s degree and never studied at UNISA, her parliamentary profile revealed something else: she obtained a Management and Development in Municipal Finance certificate after a nine-month course at the University of the Witwatersrand in 2008.
The profile says: “Mokoena holds an Honours Degree in Public Administration from the Management College of Southern Africa (MANCOSA) and is currently pursuing a Master of Management in the field of Governance.”
It does not mention the University of the Witwatersrand.
It also claimed she has experience in Local Government, Legislation, and HR within the municipalities after having worked as corporate services director.
“I have experience in local government and started in 2004 as a Director of Corporate Services so I've always been in HR and I am very well vested with local government; legislation as well as how to run HR within the municipalities.
“Prior to coming to Parliament, I had my own Consultancy, and it dealt with local government issues,” read her profile.
She said her political journey started with the ANC Youth League, where she learned the power of politics, “and the importance of just standing up for those without a voice”.
“So those areas, I would say, shaped me, but obviously, as I grew up and, after everything that happened to Jacob Zuma, I saw the need for a move to a new political home (MKP),” it read.
bongani. hans@inl.co.za