Pretoria - Taxi driver, Ngoanametwa Gibson Thobakgale, 40, has been sentenced to six years imprisonment by the Polokwane Specialised Commercial Crimes Court for swindling an unsuspecting tender bidder.
Hawks’ spokesperson in Limpopo, Captain Matimba Maluleke said Thobakgale was sentenced on Wednesday.
“Thobakgale was a local taxi driver in 2018, and he was supposed to earn his salary from transporting the commuters. But he became greedy and decided to swindle an unsuspecting victim,” said Maluleke.
The victim had applied for a tender advertised by the Department of Education, to provide security services at schools around Limpopo.
After the victim had submitted his tender documents, he received a call from a person who claimed to be an official from the Department of Education, demanding R200 000 gratification “in order to award him the tender”.
“The victim decided to contact the department in order to verify if indeed there was such person working with them. Unfortunately, the department confirmed that the accused’s (Thobakgale) name was not in their database and the victim immediately notified the Hawks’ serious corruption investigation members,” said Maluleke.
On November 26, 2018, the Hawks conducted an undercover operation which resulted in the arrest of Thobakgale in Polokwane, at a service station near the N1 North highway.
The arrest was effected after Thobakgale received R10 000 which was part of the R200 000 he had demanded from the victim.
“Thobakgale was sentenced to five years imprisonment for fraud and six years imprisonment for corruption. The sentences were ordered to run concurrently,” said Maluleke.
IOL