Remote work gave her the cover she needed—no one was tracking her presence.
In KwaZulu-Natal, a senior public servant quietly collected two government salaries for eighteen months — not through elaborate deception, but through the ordinary gaps that exist between institutions that do not speak to one another. Nolufefe Ali's resignation from Dube TradePort this week closes one chapter of a story that is less about individual greed than about the structural silences that make such arrangements possible. The discovery came not from the systems designed to prevent it, but from a stranger's tip — a reminder that accountability, when it arrives at all, often arrives by accident.
- For eighteen months, a single executive drew over R5.5 million from two separate state agencies simultaneously, exploiting remote work policies that made her physical absence invisible to both employers.
- The arrangement collapsed not because internal audits caught it, but because an anonymous tip in May forced Dube TradePort management to confront Ali directly — she resigned on the spot.
- Criminal charges have been filed and fund recovery is underway, but the Eastern Cape Parks & Tourism Agency — already facing a budget cut from R436 million to R210 million — has retreated behind confidentiality laws rather than account for its own oversight failures.
- The case echoes a 2022 fraud conviction involving a water affairs director who similarly held dual posts, suggesting this is a recurring vulnerability rather than an isolated incident.
- South African state entities are now confronting an urgent question: if remote work removes the last visible check on employee presence, what mechanisms remain to detect divided loyalties before a whistleblower does it for them?
Nolufefe Ali resigned from her corporate services role at Dube TradePort this week after the KwaZulu-Natal entity discovered she had been simultaneously employed at the Eastern Cape Parks & Tourism Agency for the better part of two years. The 53-year-old had secured a five-year contract with the Eastern Cape agency in September 2024 while remaining permanently employed at Dube since 2021. Financial records show she collected R4.2 million from Dube across 2024 and 2025, while earning at least R1.3 million annually from the Parks agency — more than R5.5 million in public funds combined.
The arrangement came undone not through any internal audit, but through an external tip-off in May. Dube TradePort's remote work policy had given Ali the cover she needed: no one at headquarters was monitoring her physical presence, while she was fulfilling her Eastern Cape obligations near KuGompo City. When management confronted her, she resigned immediately. The entity accepted with instant effect, filed a criminal complaint with police, and began pursuing fund recovery. Communications manager Vincent Zwane confirmed Dube's zero-tolerance stance on undisclosed dual employment and announced Xolile Shabalala as acting replacement.
Holding two state positions simultaneously violates the Public Service Act and constitutes fraud and gross dishonesty under South African law. The case mirrors a 2022 incident in which senior director Gabonewe Madikela defrauded a municipality of nearly R778,557 by secretly taking a second post — a pattern that suggests systemic rather than exceptional failure.
The Eastern Cape Parks & Tourism Agency's response has been conspicuously opaque. Acting CEO Motsehoa Mahlatsi declined to clarify whether Ali had ever declared outside employment, citing data protection laws. The silence is striking given the agency's precarious finances — its budget is being halved from R436 million to a projected R210 million by 2026-27, with R204 million already committed to salaries, leaving almost nothing for conservation and tourism infrastructure.
Ali could not be reached for comment. What her case ultimately reveals is how easily the gaps between state entities — different provinces, different oversight cultures, a modern remote-work norm — can be turned into a vehicle for sustained fraud. The harder question now facing public institutions across South Africa is whether they possess the internal mechanisms to find the next one before a stranger has to tell them.
Nolufefe Ali resigned from her position as corporate services executive at Dube TradePort this week, but not before the KwaZulu-Natal state entity discovered she had been drawing paychecks from two government agencies simultaneously for the better part of two years. The 53-year-old had secured a five-year contract with the Eastern Cape Parks & Tourism Agency in September 2024 while remaining permanently employed at Dube TradePort since 2021. Financial records show she collected R4.2 million from Dube over 2024 and 2025, while earning at least R1.3 million annually from the Eastern Cape agency. Combined, her dual employment netted her more than R5.5 million in public funds across the 18-month period.
The arrangement unraveled not through any internal audit or compliance check, but through an external tip-off in May. Dube TradePort's remote work policy had given Ali the cover she needed—she could work from anywhere, which meant no one at headquarters was tracking her physical presence or availability. Meanwhile, she was showing up at offices near KuGompo City in the Eastern Cape to fulfill her obligations to the Parks agency. When Dube management finally confronted her about the conflict, Ali submitted her resignation immediately. The entity accepted it with instant effect and moved swiftly to file a criminal complaint with police and begin recovering the funds she had received.
Holding two state positions at once violates the Public Service Act and constitutes deliberate fraud and gross dishonesty under South African law. The consequences can be severe: criminal prosecution, dismissal, and recovery of public money. The case echoes a 2022 incident involving Gabonewe Madikela, a senior director at the department of water affairs and sanitation, who misled a local municipality into thinking she was on paid leave while actually taking another post. She defrauded the municipality of roughly R778,557 before the Hawks arrested her.
What the Ali case exposes is a troubling gap in governance. Dube TradePort's remote work flexibility, while modern and employee-friendly on its surface, created a blind spot. There was no mechanism to verify that someone working from home was actually working—or working only for them. The entity's communications manager, Vincent Zwane, acknowledged the breach and emphasized that Dube maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward undisclosed conflicts of interest and dual employment. The organization has appointed Xolile Shabalala to act in Ali's role to maintain continuity.
The Eastern Cape Parks & Tourism Agency, by contrast, has offered little transparency. When asked about Ali's employment records, leave, attendance, and pay, acting CEO Motsehoa Mahlatsi cited employee confidentiality and data protection laws, declining to clarify whether Ali had ever declared outside paid work or whether the agency had been aware of the arrangement. The agency did confirm she held a fixed-term contract as executive director of corporate services but would say nothing more. This silence is particularly striking given that the ECPTA is already in severe financial distress. The province's department of economic development has slashed its budget from R436 million in 2023-24 to a projected R210 million by 2026-27. With R204 million of that already earmarked for salaries, the agency has little room to absorb the cost of Ali's dual employment or to fund the infrastructure and anti-poaching work that keeps the region's tourism and conservation efforts alive.
Ali could not be reached for comment. Her phone went unanswered and text messages were not returned. The incident has laid bare how easily a determined employee can exploit the gaps between oversight systems at different state entities, and how a modern work arrangement—remote employment—can become a vehicle for fraud if the right controls are not in place. For state entities across South Africa, the question now is whether they have the internal mechanisms to catch what an external tip-off revealed here.
Citações Notáveis
Dube TradePort maintains a zero-tolerance approach to undisclosed conflicts of interest, dual employment in the public sector and any form of misconduct that undermines institutional integrity.— Vincent Zwane, Dube communications & public relations manager
The agency maintains policies and procedures governing employment, declarations of interests, leave management and remunerative work outside of the organisation.— Motsehoa Mahlatsi, acting CEO of Eastern Cape Parks & Tourism Agency
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
How does someone work two full-time government jobs for 18 months without anyone noticing?
Remote work. That's the answer. Dube gave her permission to work from anywhere, which meant no one was checking if she was actually at her desk. She could be in the Eastern Cape running another operation entirely.
But surely there are systems—timesheets, performance reviews, meetings?
You'd think. But when you're an executive, especially one handling corporate services, the oversight gets looser. She wasn't clocking in and out. And if she was competent enough to manage both roles, she could probably attend the meetings that mattered.
Why didn't the Eastern Cape agency catch it?
That's the real question. She would have had to declare outside employment. Either she didn't, or they didn't ask, or they didn't check. The agency won't say. They're hiding behind confidentiality laws now.
Is this common?
We don't know. This one got caught because someone tipped off Dube. How many others are doing this quietly? That's what should worry people in government.
What happens to her now?
Police have a case. Dube is trying to recover the money. She's not talking. Whether she faces prosecution depends on what the Hawks decide to do with it.
And the real damage?
It's not just the money. It's that these agencies don't have basic controls. If Dube hadn't gotten that tip, this would still be happening. That's the vulnerability.