A former Tshwane Metro cop has been sentenced to three years in prison.
This comes after she was found guilty on a corruption charge relating to a bribe he solicited from an undercover agent from the National Traffic Anti-Corruption Unit of the Road Traffic Management Corporation.
According to RTMC spokesman Simon Zwane, Sebo Mathabatha (44) was sentenced by the Pretoria Regional Court on 28 April after a trial that dragged on for more than five years.
The case was first heard in the Cullinan Magistrates Court and was moved after Mathabatha’s lawyers challenged the magistrate to recuse herself.
This caused lengthy delays which resulted in Mathabatha appearing in the Pretoria Regional Court where she pleaded guilty to the charge.
“The charge stems from an incident on 19 December 2015 on Moloto Road where Mathabatha stopped an undercover agent and demanded to see his driving licence. When the agent failed to produce the licence, Mathabatha called him to the back of the vehicle where she asked him to ‘give her something’,” said Zwane.
The agent went back to his car and returned to hand Mathabatha a marked R100 note.
She was arrested immediately after taking the money.
In passing the sentence, the court took into account that Mathabatha had abused her position of trust and showed total disregard for the law.
It also considered that she was a first-time offender and had shown remorse by pleading guilty to the charge.
She was sentenced to three years imprisonment, suspended for five years.
Zwane said she was further sentenced to 12 months of correctional supervision which requires her to be under house arrest at her Mamelodi East home except when going to work, church or to do community service.
