Former municipal official guilty of fraud and corruption

Mashaba appeared in the Mhala Regional Court last Tuesday, where she was found guilty and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, wholly suspended for a period of five years on condition that she is not convicted of fraud and corruption during the period of suspension.

The court also ordered her to pay compensation to the amount of R93 480 to BLM.

According to the Hawks’ provincial spokesperson, Capt Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi, during the period of April to November 2012, the accused was employed by BLM as a public officer. She recruited two relatives to open a company called Amiway CC, which transported and supplied water to affected areas in the Mkhuhlu region.

“Without the knowledge of the two ladies who opened the company, the accused acquired interest in a contract or agreement between BLM and the entity known as Amiway CC.

“The accused made the application for rendering of service by Amiway CC on behalf of the municipality in which it (the company) was paid a total amount of R700 070 for services rendered under the said contract. She then unlawfully, falsely and with intent to defraud, misrepresenting BLM, submitted a duplicate claim of R93 480 which was paid into the Amiway CC business account for the service that was never rendered,” explained Sekgotodi.

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“In 2015, information was received by the Special Investigative Unit through a whistle-blower about a municipal employee who was running an unregistered company. A case was opened and later transferred to the Hawks Serious Commercial Crime Investigation Mpumalanga for further investigation. During the investigation, it was established that Mashaba recruited the two women to open a company and ordered them to put her cell phone numbers on the business account. It was also established that the said municipality was at all times dealing with Mashaba and not members of Amiway CC. Mashaba ensured that the particulars on the invoice, such as postal addresses and contact numbers, did not belong to Amiway, but were hers and those of her relatives.”

After the Hawks’ investigation, Mashaba was arrested and charged with fraud, theft and corruption.

“During the trial, the witnesses admitted that they indeed were recruited to open a company and business account in which she withheld all the documents. They further testified that since they handed all the documents to the accused, they never heard anything about the company and did not benefit from it,” added Sekgotodi.

Mashaba’s sentence came with a number of conditions, which included that she submitted herself to correctional supervision for a period of 12 months, participated in programmes determined by the supervision committee, refrained from abusing drugs or alcohol, and not leave the magisterial district of Mapulaneng.

The court ruled that failure to comply with these conditions would result in the accused being brought back to court for alternative sentencing.