Daniel Mthimkhulu (Prasa head engineer), Mosenngwa Mofi (CEO of Prasa Rail ) and Lucky Montana (Prasa Group CEO) during a media briefing on July 6, 2015 in Pretoria, South Africa. Picture: Gallo Images / Beeld / Deaan Vivier
Former Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) executive manager Daniel Mthimkhulu has been sentenced to 15 years for fraud and misrepresentation of his qualifications.
The sentence was handed down by Magistrate Philip Venter in the Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crime Court sitting in Palm Ridge on Tuesday.
Venter sentenced Mthimkhulu to 15 years in prison and six years each on two other counts of fraud. The sentences will run concurrently.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Katlego Mogale said this is one of the “state capture cases that has been finalised”.
“The public can be assured that other state capture cases on the DPCI (Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation) table will be dealt with amicably.”
NPA head Godfrey Lebeya welcomed the sentence.
“This should serve as a lesson to would-be fraudsters that crime doesn’t pay.”
Mthimkhulu was found to have misrepresented his qualifications to Prasa.
He claimed, among others, to have acquired a master’s degree from the University of Witwatersrand and a doctorate in engineering management from the Technische Universitat Munchen in Germany.
ALSO READ: Fake Prasa ‘Dr’ Daniel Mthimkhulu loses bid for leave to appeal R5.7m judgment
Commenting before the sentencing, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula said Mthimkhulu was “paraded as the most qualified engineer” by former Prasa CEO Lucky Montana.
The NPA said because of his misrepresentation, Mthimkhulu’s annual salary was hiked from R1.6 million as executive manager heading the engineering services to R2.8 million.
In June 2010, he lied to Prasa about a job offer received from a German engineering firm, for the position of engineering services specialist at a salary of R2.8 million per annum.
Consequently, Prasa made Mthimkhulu a counter-offer in September 2010 at a salary of R2.8 million.
In 2019, the Gauteng High Court ordered Mthimkhulu to repay Prasa R5.7 million, representing the salary he received under false pretences while working at the state-owned entity.
Judge Leoni Windell handed down judgment at the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg after Prasa sought to recover money paid to Mthimkhulu after his appointment as executive manager for engineering services in 2010.
ALSO READ: Former Prasa executive Daniel Mthimkhulu convicted for fraud
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