A Nelson Mandela Bay ward councillor from the ANC, Bongo Nombiba, headed to St Albans Prison this week to begin his five-year jail term.

Nombiba was found guilty of fraud and money laundering in the Port Elizabeth Commercial Crimes Court last year.

He was arrested by the Hawks in 2016 for defrauding the municipality of R20 000, which was meant for the Thulamangwane Community Project, a non-governmental organisation which cares for the elderly and cleans schools in the community.

Magistrate Johannes Claassen found Nombiba guilty of fraud and money laundering, but not of corruption, saying Nombiba had taken the money as reward for the fraud he had committed, and not to secure favours for the NGO.

His application for leave to appeal his effective five-year jail term was turned down by the Constitutional Court last month, Algoa FM reported.

According to EWN, he was served with a notice on Friday to hand himself over to clerk of the court, which he did on Monday.

He reported for his first day of prison in Port Elizabeth the same day, according to The Herald.

The newspaper reported that a by-election would have to be held within three months to replace him.

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