Daniel Mthimkhulu, the former chief engineer at South Africa’s Passenger Rail Agency (Prasa), has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for falsifying his qualifications.
Mthimkhulu, who held the position for five years and earned an annual salary of approximately 2.8 million rand ($156,000; £119,000), had claimed on his CV to have mechanical engineering degrees from Witwatersrand University and a doctorate from a German institution.
In reality, he had only completed high school.
The Johannesburg court heard that Mthimkhulu’s deception began to unravel in July 2015, leading to his arrest. He had risen through the ranks at Prasa over 15 years, bolstered by his fraudulent credentials.
He also forged a job offer letter from a German company, which led Prasa to increase his salary to retain him.
Mthimkhulu played a key role in a 600 million rand deal to acquire new trains from Spain that were ultimately unusable in South Africa due to their size.
The court considered the severity of the fraud, the significant financial loss to Prasa, and Mthimkhulu’s breach of trust with his employer.
Phindi Mjonondwane, spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), remarked that the sentence sends a strong message against white-collar crime.
Lt-Gen Seswantsho Godfrey Lebeya of the Hawks, South Africa’s elite police unit, stated, “This should serve as a lesson to would-be fraudsters that crime doesn’t pay.”
Mthimkhulu admitted in a 2019 interview with eNCA that he did not have a PhD and had failed to correct the mistaken perception. “I just became comfortable with the title. I did not foresee any damages as a result of this,” he said.
The case is linked to the broader issue of “state capture,” a term describing the corruption under former President Jacob Zuma.
The sentence has been widely welcomed, with many noting the need for rigorous qualification checks in hiring processes.
“Daniel Mthimkhulu’s story highlights a failing administration system,” one X user commented. Mthimkhulu is reportedly planning to appeal the decision.
Source-BBC
