Official convicted of faking deaths to claim insurance payouts

Insurance fraud at Home Affairs: Official convicted of faking deaths to claim insurance payouts

Mapaballo Borotho

A Home Affairs official, Dawn Celeste Pieterson, was found guilty of fraud and violating the Birth and Death Registration Act.
She faked people’s deaths between 2019 and 2022 to claim insurance payouts by registering them as deceased in the national database.
Her actions caused significant disruptions to the victims’ lives, and she will be sentenced on 26 January 2026.

A female official who was employed by the Department of Home Affairs has been found guilty on nine counts of fraud as well as two counts of contravening the Birth and Death Registration Act by the Calvinia Magistrate’s Court.

Dawn Celeste Pieterson took funeral covers from reputable insurance companies on behalf of strangers and nominated herself as the beneficiary.

To benefit, she manipulated the national population register by falsely issuing B1-1663 forms (notice of death forms) to reflect the fake deaths of the victims.

As a Home Affairs employee, part of her duties gave her access to the national population register, making it easy for her to continue with her ill deeds.

The system registered the affected persons as deceased, resulting in a plethora of problems in the victims’ day-to-day lives.

Pieterson managed to carry on with her misdeeds between February 2019 and September 2022.

The matter has been postponed to 26 January 2026 for sentencing.

#sapsHAWKS Northern Cape: Home Affairs employee found guilty for fraud. Calvinia Magistrate’s Court convicted Dawn Celeste Pieterson (45) on 01/10. Pieterson was found guilty on 9 counts of fraud.

Pieterson’s misdeeds took place between February 2019 and September 2022 when… pic.twitter.com/Y1qlsNRkLp

— SA Police Service 🇿🇦 (@SAPoliceService) October 2, 2025