The Polokwane Specialised Commercial Crimes Court has
sentenced a 40-year-old taxi driver, Ngoanametwa Gibson Thobakgale for cheating
an unsuspecting tender bidder on Wednesday, 14 December.
Thobakgale was a local taxi driver in 2018, and he was supposed to earn his salary from transporting the commuters. But he decided to scam an unsuspecting victim.
“The victim had applied for a tender that was advertised by the Department of Education to provide security services at the schools around Limpopo Province. After he had submitted his tender documents, he received a call from someone who claimed to be an official from the Department of Education demanding a R200 000 bribe in order to award him a tender,” Cops spokesperson, Captain Matimba Maluleke said.
Maluleke said the victim decided to contact the department to verify if indeed such a person was working with them.
“Unfortunately the department had confirmed that the accused’s name was not in their database and the victim immediately notified the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation members,” he said.
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Maluleke further said on Monday, 26 November 2018, the Hawks conducted an undercover operation that resulted in the arrest of Thobakgale in Polokwane at the service station near the N1 North highway immediately after receiving R10 000 of the R200 000 he had demanded.
Thobakgale was sentenced to five years imprisonment for fraud and six years imprisonment for corruption.
The sentences were ordered to run concurrently.
