By Enyichukwu Enemanna
A court in Johannesburg has sentenced a former chief engineer of South Africa’s state-owned passenger rail company to 15 years imprisonment for securing job with a fake qualification.
Daniel Mthimkhulu, who was once hailed for his successful career headed the engineering department at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) for five years where he earned an annual salary of about 2.8m rand ($156,000; £119,000).
Mthimkhulu, 49, had on his CV claimed to have had several mechanical engineering qualifications, including a degree from South Africa’s respected Witwatersrand University as well as a doctorate degree from a German university.
However, the Johannesburg court held that he only completed his high-school education.
“The sentence sends a strong message that the perpetrators of white-collar crime will not go unpunished,” the spokesperson of National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Phindi Mjonondwane said.
He was engaged in the service of PRASAD 15 years earlier where he rose to the rank of chief engineer with a fake qualifications.
The court also heard how Mthimkhulu had forged a job offer letter from a German company, which encouraged Prasa to increase his salary so the agency would not lose him.
He was also alleged to have been at the forefront of a 600m rand deal to buy dozens of new trains from Spain, but they could not be used in South Africa as they were too high.
“The court took into account the seriousness and prevalence of fraud, the significant financial loss to PRASA and Mthimkhulu’s betrayal of his employer’s trust,” the NPA spokesperson said.
In an interview from 2019 with local broadcaster eNCA, Mthimkhulu admitted that he did not have a PhD.
“I failed to correct the perception that I have it. I just became comfortable with the title. I did not foresee any damages as a result of this,” he said.
Lt-Gen Seswantsho Godfrey Lebeya, the head of South Africa’s elite Hawks police unit that helped bring the prosecution, also welcomed the sentence.
“This should serve as a lesson to would be fraudsters that crime doesn’t pay,” he said.
