Daniel Mtimkulu, a former high-ranking official at South Africa’s Passenger Rail Agency (PRASA), was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Tuesday for falsifying his engineering qualifications and committing multiple frauds. Mtimkulu, who was 49, resigned from his role as PRASA’s head of engineering just before his arrest in 2015.
In 2022, Mtimkulu was convicted on three counts of fraud and forgery. He had falsely claimed to hold a master’s degree from a South African university and a doctorate in engineering management from a German institution. Additionally, he forged a job offer from a German company, which led PRASA to significantly increase his salary from $90,000 to $155,000 annually to retain him.
The fraudulent activities also included a major $100 million deal for new train locomotives from Spain, which were later found to be too large for South Africa’s rail network and thus unusable. This contract was part of several at PRASA suspected of involving bribery and corruption.
The court sentenced Mtimkulu to 15 years for the main fraud charge and six years each for the other two counts, with the sentences to run concurrently. In addition to his prison term, Mtimkulu was ordered to repay PRASA $323,000, identified as the proceeds of his crimes.
This case highlights broader issues of corruption and mismanagement within South Africa’s state-owned enterprises. Investigations have revealed significant financial losses attributed to graft, with recent reports suggesting that over $7 billion might have been lost due to corruption across various state-owned companies.