Former Ekurhuleni officials jailed for tender fraud amounting to R21.8m

The Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Wednesday sentenced two former City of Ekurhuleni officials and a businessman to several years behind bars for tender fraud amounting to R21.8 million.

This followed their conviction in 2019 on charges of fraud, corruption, and money laundering.

The matter emanated from a referral by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for prosecution, after the unit probed procurement processes at the metro.

The two former Ekurhuleni officials, Nelish Singh and Andrew Mphushomadi, were handed sentences of 15 years and six years, respectively.

Singh was employed as the city’s executive director of the information and communications technology department, while Mphushomadi was a chief IT architect.  

Mphushomadi and his company, Nanga Transport, were given 10 years for money laundering, of which four were suspended. According to the SIU, he received the proceeds of crime to the value of R3.3 million.

Businessman Velero David, who owns Meropa Sechabeng Technology, was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.

The two entities that were used to commission the tender fraud crime – Meropa Sechabeng Technology and Nanga Transport, represented by Mphushomadi’s wife Princes Dlongolo – were each given R600 000 fines suspended for five years.

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