- Frikkie van Staden, a former road parks superintendent at the Oudtshoorn municipality, has been sentenced to four years behind bars for fraud.
- Van Staden was responsible for road maintenance and sub-contracted his own company for work.
- Acting Western Cape Hawks head Brigadier Mushavhaduvha Ramovha welcomed the sentence.
A former Oudtshoorn municipality official has been sentenced to an effective four years in prison in the Oudtshoorn Regional Court after he was convicted of fraud to the tune of R1.9 million.
Frikkie van Staden, 55, was responsible for road maintenance, among other things, in Oudtshoorn and sub-contracted his own company‚ allegedly fronted by his sister-in-law, for work.
The Hawks' Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team in George revealed that, between 2010 to 2014, Van Staden instructed his sister-in-law to register a company under her name.
He took over the company's operations to score contracts within the municipality without the knowledge of his sister-in-law.
Welcoming the sentence, acting Hawks head in the Western Cape, Brigadier Mushavhaduvha Ramovha, said: "Van Staden was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment for corruption of which three years were suspended on condition that he is not convicted of similar crimes during the period of the suspension."
"He was further sentenced to two years' imprisonment for contravening the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA) [and] a further five years' imprisonment for fraud, wholly suspended for five years with the condition [which] was additionally imposed on him," Ramovha added .
Van Staden will serve an effective sentence of four years behind bars.