Mlungisi Gumede
Former KwaZulu-Natal Head of Treasury Sipho Shabalala has been sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for fraud and money laundering.
Shabalala was found guilty of corruption, fraud, money laundering and contravening the Public Finance Management Act in June.
He appeared before Pietermaritzburg High Court on Thursday for his part in the awarding of a R44 million contract for water purification plants by the provincial government in 2006.
The contract was awarded to Intaka Holdings owned by Uruguayan businessman Gaston Savoi and the money came from the poverty relief fund.
Shabalala was the chairperson of the procurement committee that awarded the contract.
He received R1.5 million from Intaka Investments as a “donation” to the ANC, a clear kickback for the contracts.
It later emerged in court that Shabalala used some of the money to pay expenses related to his farm and his entity that owned a hotel in Pietermaritzburg.
This conviction on the contravention of the PFMA reflects the pointed focus on holding government officials accountable for corruption, using this piece of legislation.
Shabalala was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for fraud, 15 years for corruption, 10 years for money laundering and 5 years for contravening the PFMA.
The sentences will run concurrently. His bail was extended to 13 September 2022, when the court will hear his application for leave to appeal.
The related matter of State vs Savoi and others is remanded until 14 November 2022, when an application for a permanent stay of prosecution will be heard.
The Director of Public Prosecutions in KZN, Adv Elaine Zungu lauded the outcome and commended the work done by the prosecution and investigating teams.
“The NPA will continue with its mandate of rooting out corruption, especially in government,” she said.
A senior leader of the DA in the KZN legislature Zwakele Mncwango said: “At times justice needs to be served so that people will see that there is law in this country.”.
Image source: @TimesLIVE
