The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) welcomes the 15-year sentence handed down to former head of engineering at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa), Daniel Mthimkhulu, after he was found guilty of three counts of fraud.
Mthimkhulu held the plum role of head of engineering at the rail agency until he was discovered to have falsified his qualifications, and submitted a forged job offer from a company in Germany, prompting his employer to raise his salary.
The fake engineer claimed to have a Master's degree from the University of the Witwatersrand and a Doctorate in Engineering Management from the Technische Universität München in Germany. After submitting the fake job offer, Mthimkhulu's salary was hiked from R1.6 million a year to R2.8 million.
COSATU applauds the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks)' Serious Economic Offences Unit for relentlessly pursuing this case until Mthimkhulu was convicted.
This sentence sends a clear message to would be fraudsters that falsifying qualifications is not a victimless crime and will not be tolerated. Mthimkhulu's involvement placed Prasa's projects under considerable risk and exposed the entity to liability it could not have foreseen.
Workers have paid a price for the costs of this fraudster's appointment. As head of engineering, Mthimkhulu was involved in massive capital projects at Prasa. He was found to be central to the procurement of trains too tall for South African train stations and lines. The costs to address this by raising platforms will be massive and born by taxpayers. The result in delays in rolling out the new trains are paid for by workers and the economy in desperate need of an efficient and affordable commuter rail network.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
The falsifying of qualifications appears to be more widespread than initially thought; prominent figures alleged to have faked qualifications include the former Deputy Speaker in the North West Legislature, Tshepo Khoza and Economist Thabi Leoka.
COSATU unequivocally supports all law enforcement agencies as they steadying bring individuals accused of various kinds of corruption to book. We are heartened that under the leadership of President Cyril Ramaphosa and government led by the African National Congress, that the tide against the sea of corruption appears to be slowly turning.
It is critical that government ensure that our law enforcement organs are well resourced to win this war against crime and corruption as we prepare for the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement next month.
