R800 to speed up a dead man's estate papers lands Master's Office clerk in prison

An estate controller at the Johannesburg Master’s Office has been sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for corruption and defeating the administration of justice, after a complainant paid him R800 in cash to speed up a document for a deceased person’s estate and then never received it.

Peter Mokapi More, 35, was convicted and sentenced in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, 27 October 2026, according to a South African Police Service statement issued through the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, the Hawks.

The case began on 30 November 2023, when the complainant reported that she had paid More R800 in cash to expedite the issuing of a Letter of Authority for the estate of the late deceased. When the document was not issued, she demanded a refund and then reported the illicit transaction.

The matter was assigned to the Hawks’ Johannesburg Serious Corruption Investigation unit. More was arrested on 26 February 2025.

Brigadier Paulina Sekgobela, Acting Gauteng Provincial Head for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, commended the investigating officer for what the statement described as diligent and relentless work in securing the conviction.

The statement said the sentence serves as a warning to public officials that corruption within state institutions will not be tolerated and that perpetrators will face the law.

The account above is drawn from the SAPS media statement, which summarises the case rather than reproducing the court record. Enquiries on the matter are directed to Lieutenant Colonel Granville Meyer of the police service.

The original statement is published at https://www.saps.gov.za/newsroom/msspeechdetail.php?nid=72144.