Ponatsego Anna Ngwenya, aged 45 and former general manager of funeral service provider Royal Funerals, appeared before the Pretoria magistrate’s court on Tuesday on fraud charges exceeding R500,000. She was granted bail of R30,000, and her case was postponed to June 9 for further investigation. According to Lumka Mahanjana, spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority, Ngwenya allegedly defrauded the company by instructing clients to make funeral policy payments directly into her personal bank account. In some instances, she collected cash payments, claiming the company’s payment system was offline. The fraud emerged when Royal Funerals identified lapsed policies and, upon contacting clients, learned payments were made directly to Ngwenya. Ngwenya was arrested on April 15, and the state did not oppose bail as she was not considered a flight risk.