Cape Town – Two senior Drakenstein municipal employees and one of their daughters have been sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment after they were convicted on charges of fraud and corruption.
Ezra Abrahams was a superintendent and manager at the municipality, and Shamiel Cupido was a senior clerk when they solicited kickbacks from three service providers by referring municipal vehicles to the service providers.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said Paarl Auto, MAG and Wynland had entered into a corrupt relationship with the accused to benefit their businesses.
An analysis of payment to the service providers showed that between July 2004 and November that year, MAG received R600 098 for goods and services rendered to the municipality.
Wynland got R1 405 833 for goods and services between 2005 and 2006; and Brendan van der Westhuizen and Paarl Auto benefited from the processing of fictitious invoices to the amount of R32 000.
Abrahams’s daughter Vanessa was employed by Wynland.
“The arrangement was that work would flow following the employment of Vanessa, and as a result, business grew for this company after her employment.”
Arguing for a tough sentence, advocate Tommy Bunguzana said there was a commonly used phrase in South Africa in discussions about fighting corruption: “corruption is the cancer that eats away the fabric of our society”.“This statement is true, but is fast running a risk of losing its meaning and seriousness if lenient sentences are meted for white-collar crime, which is one of the critical threats to South Africa’s growth and development; and an even worse threat to the fight against poverty,” Bunguzana said.
“Society views white-collar crime, particularly when it involves prejudice to the public purse, and corrupt activities of people who occupy a special position of trust in a very serious light, given the nature and extent of the powers they wield."
“It is in the best interest of society that courts, when dealing with cases of this kind, take stern action against those who have abused and betrayed their positions of trust and perpetrate with impunity fraud and corruption, which have become endemic in this country.”
Ezra Abrahams and Cupido were sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment for corruption and five years for fraud.
The court ordered the sentences to run concurrently.
Vanessa Abrahams was sentenced to three years’ correctional supervision and five years for fraud, which was wholly suspended for five years.
All the accused applied for leave to appeal, which was dismissed.
Ntabazalila said the National Prosecuting Authority welcomed the sentences.