Former Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) engineer Daniel Mthimkhulu has been sentenced to 15 years in jail for fraud and misrepresenting his qualifications.
The Palm Ridge Commercial Crimes Court sentenced Mthimkhulu on Tuesday, 3 September.
FORMER PRASA HEAD OF ENGINEERING SENTENCED FOR FRAUD
In January 2022, Mthimkhulu, who earned an annual salary of R2.8 million was found guilty of nine counts of fraud and misrepresenting his academic qualifications, which included a diploma, Master’s degree from Wits University and a doctorate in engineering management from from the Technische Universitat Munchen in Germany. .
He was also ordered by the Gauteng High Court to pay Prasa R5.7 million in monies he received under false pretences.
Mthimkhulu had been paraded by former Prasa CEO Lucky Montana an uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party member of Parliament, as the most qualified and sought after engineer that the rail agency fought hard to keep in South Africa. As a result, his salary was hiked from 1.6 million to R2.8 million.
Over the years Mthimkhulu maintained his innocence saying his curriculum vitae was manipulated by a third party and citing a political agenda.
HAWKS WELCOME SENTENCING
The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) have welcomed the sentence handed to the former Prasa engineer.
Hawks spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale said this is one of the State Capture cases that has been finalised and the public can be assured that other State Capture cases on their table will be dealt with amicably.
It was during Mthimkhulu’s tenure that Prasa spent R2.6 billion to purchase 25 diesel and 45 electric locomotives that were allegedly too tall for the country’s rail network.
The National Head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, Lieutenant General Godfrey Lebeya welcomed the sentence and applauded the hard work and efforts of the investigation and prosecution teams.
“This should serve as a lesson to would be fraudsters that crime doesn’t pay”, Lebeya said.
IS EX-PRASA BOSS DANIEL MTHIMKHULU’S SENTENCE APPROPRIATE?
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