News24 reports that a Mbombela municipality employee and his two accomplices have been sentenced to 10 years in prison each after being found guilty of corruption and extortion.
They were convicted and sentenced in the Nelspruit Regional Court on Friday. Dino Siboza worked for the municipality, while his accomplices – Ernest Mamba and Nkate Ngcobo – worked for a company contracted by the municipality to undertake electricity meter readings. According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the men went to the complainant's house in December 2018 to inspect a meter box and found that it had been tampered with. NPA spokesperson Monica Nyuswa reported: “On the first occasion, they instructed the complainant to pay them a sum of R2,000 to avoid being reported to the municipality. It appeared that the first amount was not enough, as they then demanded two other payments [of] R3,000 [and] R15,000, but the complainant paid only R3,000. When the complainant realised there was no end to the demand for money by the accused, he then went to the police to report the incident." The police then set up a successful undercover operation to catch the perpetrators. The accused were subsequently convicted on charges of corruption and extortion.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Alex Mitchley at News24
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