Up to two decades of imprisonment were handed to a corrupt prosecutor, a thieving bank clerk and a dodgy taxi operator in three separate cases finalised in the Port Elizabeth Commercial Crimes Court this week.
The matters, all with favourable outcomes for the prosecution, were heard one after the other in the same court on Wednesday.
Suspended Uitenhage Magistrate’s Court prosecutor Thozama Takane, 46, has already been granted leave to appeal against his conviction and sentence for corruption after it was found that he had accepted a bribe from two accused people in April 2018.
The court heard that Takane had pocketed R1,500 in exchange for quashing the assault charges against Luvuyo Bokwe and Nxaxho Crosby.
As soon as Bokwe and Crosby handed over the cash, Takane withdrew the matter.
Takane was arrested when the men later reported the incident to the Hawks.
In sentencing Takane, magistrate Hannes Claassen said the prosecutor had abused his position of trust towards his employer and the community who looked up to him.
He was granted bail of R5,000 pending the outcome of his appeal.
Meanwhile, an Absa Bank employee stationed at Port Elizabeth’s KwaDwesi branch was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment after she pleaded guilty to defrauding a customer out of more than R1.2m in November and December 2015.
Siphokazi Katyu, 33, a customer services clerk at the time, told the court that on November 13 2015 she had unlawfully changed the banking details of a flexi-save account which belonged to an Absa client.
She also altered the address and cellphone number linked to the account so that she would not be caught out.
Katyu then issued a debit card on the client’s portfolio and linked the card to various accounts which did not belong to the client.
In the days that followed, the debit card was used at five different ATMs across the city to transfer about R1.1m from the money market account to the accounts created by Katyu.
State advocate Leigh-Anne Pillay-Selahle said the offence had been carefully contrived and committed in a planned and deliberate manner with ample time for reflection.
“She faced an overwhelming case with a paper trail and video footage that clearly showed her involvement.
“She had no choice but to plead guilty,” Pillay-Selahle said.
Taxi operator Bonginkosi Dyafta will spend the next two years under house arrest after he defrauded a company representing the minibus taxi industry in a deal with the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality for the implementation of the Integrated Public Transport System (IPTS) in Summerstrand.
When the municipality introduced the now beleaguered bus system to the Summerstrand route, it was decided to launch a pilot project whereby 60 taxis were to be removed from the area.
Various taxi operators, including Dyafta, were approached and agreed to remove their taxis from the beachfront.
The pilot project was to run from January 2013 to January the next year.
A contract was then signed between each taxi owner and the director of Kyoscan (Pty) Ltd, Gregory Rockman, stipulating that each operator would be reimbursed monthly for the loss of income.
Kyoscan would then invoice the municipality monthly and pay the individual taxi operators for loss of income on behalf of the municipality.
In terms of the contract, each taxi operator was required to hand over his or her vehicle to the NMBM storage facility with the vehicle's registration certificate and permits.
Dyafta likewise signed a contract with Kyoscan in February 2013 and confirmed that he had handed in his vehicle at the storage facility.
After an audit in July 2014, it was discovered that only 59 of the 60 taxis were in storage.
Dyafta’s vehicle was missing.
Between February 2013 and June 2014, Dyafta unlawfully received 18 different payment reimbursements totalling more than R130,000 in respect of his supposed loss of income.
He was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment in terms of Section 276(1)(h) of the Criminal Procedure Act on condition that he reimburse the municipality with the R130,000.
HeraldLIVE
Taxi boss, bank clerk, prosecutor sentenced in PE court cases
Combined 20 years in jail handed down for dodgy dealings
Image: Picture: 123RF/Evgenyi Lastochkin
Up to two decades of imprisonment were handed to a corrupt prosecutor, a thieving bank clerk and a dodgy taxi operator in three separate cases finalised in the Port Elizabeth Commercial Crimes Court this week.
The matters, all with favourable outcomes for the prosecution, were heard one after the other in the same court on Wednesday.
Suspended Uitenhage Magistrate’s Court prosecutor Thozama Takane, 46, has already been granted leave to appeal against his conviction and sentence for corruption after it was found that he had accepted a bribe from two accused people in April 2018.
The court heard that Takane had pocketed R1,500 in exchange for quashing the assault charges against Luvuyo Bokwe and Nxaxho Crosby.
As soon as Bokwe and Crosby handed over the cash, Takane withdrew the matter.
Takane was arrested when the men later reported the incident to the Hawks.
In sentencing Takane, magistrate Hannes Claassen said the prosecutor had abused his position of trust towards his employer and the community who looked up to him.
He was granted bail of R5,000 pending the outcome of his appeal.
Meanwhile, an Absa Bank employee stationed at Port Elizabeth’s KwaDwesi branch was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment after she pleaded guilty to defrauding a customer out of more than R1.2m in November and December 2015.
Siphokazi Katyu, 33, a customer services clerk at the time, told the court that on November 13 2015 she had unlawfully changed the banking details of a flexi-save account which belonged to an Absa client.
She also altered the address and cellphone number linked to the account so that she would not be caught out.
Katyu then issued a debit card on the client’s portfolio and linked the card to various accounts which did not belong to the client.
In the days that followed, the debit card was used at five different ATMs across the city to transfer about R1.1m from the money market account to the accounts created by Katyu.
State advocate Leigh-Anne Pillay-Selahle said the offence had been carefully contrived and committed in a planned and deliberate manner with ample time for reflection.
“She faced an overwhelming case with a paper trail and video footage that clearly showed her involvement.
“She had no choice but to plead guilty,” Pillay-Selahle said.
Taxi operator Bonginkosi Dyafta will spend the next two years under house arrest after he defrauded a company representing the minibus taxi industry in a deal with the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality for the implementation of the Integrated Public Transport System (IPTS) in Summerstrand.
When the municipality introduced the now beleaguered bus system to the Summerstrand route, it was decided to launch a pilot project whereby 60 taxis were to be removed from the area.
Various taxi operators, including Dyafta, were approached and agreed to remove their taxis from the beachfront.
The pilot project was to run from January 2013 to January the next year.
A contract was then signed between each taxi owner and the director of Kyoscan (Pty) Ltd, Gregory Rockman, stipulating that each operator would be reimbursed monthly for the loss of income.
Kyoscan would then invoice the municipality monthly and pay the individual taxi operators for loss of income on behalf of the municipality.
In terms of the contract, each taxi operator was required to hand over his or her vehicle to the NMBM storage facility with the vehicle's registration certificate and permits.
Dyafta likewise signed a contract with Kyoscan in February 2013 and confirmed that he had handed in his vehicle at the storage facility.
After an audit in July 2014, it was discovered that only 59 of the 60 taxis were in storage.
Dyafta’s vehicle was missing.
Between February 2013 and June 2014, Dyafta unlawfully received 18 different payment reimbursements totalling more than R130,000 in respect of his supposed loss of income.
He was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment in terms of Section 276(1)(h) of the Criminal Procedure Act on condition that he reimburse the municipality with the R130,000.
HeraldLIVE
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