EASTERN CAPE – The Provincial Head Major General Mboiki Obed Ngwenya welcomed the sentencing of Bathandwa Bazukile Ndyamara (35) on 26 July 2022 by East London Regional Court. Ndyamara was given 6 years direct imprisonment sentence with no option of a fine for charges of fraud.

During July 2019, the complainant had a travelling agency called Siyawela Travelling. The company was registered in the Basic Accounting System (BAS) of Education which is used to pay suppliers. The complainant received a request for quotations via e-mail. The quotations requested were purported to have been requested by the Department of Education in Zwelitsha for accommodation of educators and learners who were to attend workshops in Mthatha, Gqeberha and Komani respectively. The complainant was directed to source quotations from Royal Lodge which is reported to be in Queenstown, Bay Lodge in Gqeberha and Fairview lodge in Mthatha.

The complainant requested the quotations from the respective lodges and paid more than R2 million into the bank accounts reflected on the quotations as an endeavour to secure the accommodation for the learners and educators. The complainant submitted invoices to the Department of Education and was not paid because the department detected that request for quotes was a scam as the department had already paid for the same order numbers.

The matter was reported to the East London based Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team for probing which resulted in the arrest of Ndyamara on 21 December 2021. Ndyamara was released on a R5000-00 bail. After a series of court appearances, he was found guilty of fraud on 10 May 2022 hence his sentencing on 26 July 2022.

Source: South African Police Service