Nwamatlhandlula Collin Mpeyane (31) was given an option of paying a R5000 fine or spending 18 months in prison.

Read: Labour official granted bail after being nabbed by Hawks.

“Mpenyane was arrested in April after the Hawks Serious Corruption Unit was tipped off that he demanded R4000 from a local businessman who was contracted by the department to build a school at Xihoko Village outside Tzaneen,”said Captain Matimba Maluleke, Hawks Spokesperson.