Riaan van Jaarsveld has a blunt message for South African businesses: by the time fraud is discovered, the damage is usually done.
Van Jaarsveld, Director at RiXForensica, was responding to findings from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners’ latest Occupational Fraud 2026: A Report to the Nations, which identifies South Africa as the fraud hotspot of Sub-Saharan Africa. South Africa accounted for 123 of the 397 occupational fraud cases documented across the region, substantially outpacing Nigeria’s 64 cases and Kenya’s 33.
The numbers carry real weight. Sub-Saharan Africa represented 19 per cent of cases in the worldwide study, with each case generating a median loss of US$97,000. Globally, organisations lose an estimated five per cent of annual revenue to fraud every year.
What makes South Africa’s situation particularly acute is the character of the fraud taking place. Corruption dominated occupational fraud in the region, appearing in 56 per cent of cases. Asset misappropriation schemes followed closely, with theft of non-cash assets and billing fraud each representing 23 per cent of incidents. Cheque and payment tampering accounted for 13 per cent, while expense reimbursement fraud made up 12 per cent. By contrast, the global pattern differs markedly: asset misappropriation occurred in 90 per cent of cases worldwide, while corruption featured in 45 per cent.
The research examined 2,402 real-world fraud cases across 143 countries and territories. One finding stands out for its practical consequences: the typical occupational fraud scheme goes undetected for 12 months, creating prolonged exposure for organisations before any intervention is possible.
Van Jaarsveld framed the issue as a business continuity problem, not a compliance formality. “Occupational fraud is not only a compliance issue. It is a significant business risk that directly impacts profitability, operational continuity and stakeholder trust,” he said. “Once fraud has occurred, recovery is often difficult, costly and, in many cases, incomplete. The most effective approach is to prevent high-risk individuals, suppliers and service providers from entering your business ecosystem in the first place.”
Collusion emerged as a particularly troubling feature in Sub-Saharan Africa, present in 58 per cent of cases. Managers were responsible for 46 per cent of occupational fraud, followed by employees at 37 per cent and owner-executives at 14 per cent. Behavioural warning signs were visible in 84 per cent of perpetrators before detection, including living beyond their means, financial difficulties, and unusually close relationships with vendors or customers.
Weak internal controls remain a critical vulnerability. More than half of global occupational fraud cases stemmed from inadequate controls or the deliberate overriding of existing ones. Gordon Maeta, also a Director at RiXForensica, argued that due diligence must be repositioned as a frontline prevention strategy rather than administrative procedure. “Fraud frequently begins long before money leaves an organisation. It often starts during recruitment, supplier onboarding or procurement processes where critical checks are either rushed, overlooked or treated as a compliance tick-box exercise,” he said.
The recovery picture is grim. Only 12 per cent of organisations recovered all losses from fraud incidents. Forty per cent achieved partial recovery. Nearly half, 49 per cent, recovered nothing at all.
Van Jaarsveld put it plainly: “The data reinforces a simple reality. Prevention is significantly less expensive than investigation, litigation and recovery.”
The question facing South African organisations now is whether that lesson takes hold before the next 12-month detection window quietly closes.