Former Prasa Executive Receives 15 Years for Fraud and Misrepresentation of Qualifications

• The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa's former chief of engineering, Daniel Mthimkulu, was sentenced to over 10 years for faking his qualifications
• He was also sentenced for fabricating an offer from a German company to increase his salary and was convicted in 2022
• South Africans celebrated the sentence, and many saw this as a sign that others who committed similar crimes would face the music

With nine years' experience, Tebogo Mokwena, a current affairs writer for Briefly News, provided insights into the criminal justice system and high-profile cases in South Africa at Daily Sun.

JOHANNESBURG—The former head of engineering at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa), Daniel Mthimkulu, will spend the next 15 years in prison for falsifying his qualifications

Former Prasa head sentenced

According to TimesLIVE, Mthimkulu was sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment after the Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court found him guilty of three fraud counts. The charges related to how he faked his qualifications while working at Prasa.

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Mthimkulu claimed he had a Mechanical and Maintenance Engineering degree from Wits, a BTech degree in Engineering from the Vaal University of Technology, a National Diploma in Mechanical Engineering and a Doctorate in Engineering Management.

South Africans welcome the sentence

Netizens commenting on @Newzroom405's tweet were happy he was sentenced because of his fake qualifications.

Siyanda sithole said:

"He deserved it. May the arms of the law reach out to others as well."

Chax Wa Limpopo asked:

"Is this the same man who was paraded by Lucky Montana as a highly qualified engineer?"

Gilikanqo Njokweni said:

"GNU is silently dealing with thieves one by one."

Xolani Mamkeli said:

"He should have been given 20 years. We are busy studying, and some just wake up with qualifications."

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IsNiks said:

"He will have enough time to get authentic qualifications with Unisa."

Thabi Leoka resigns from Anglo-America

In a related article, Briefly News reported that Anglo-American non-executive director Thabi Leoka resigned from the company.

This was after she was accused of faking a qualification from the London School of Economics. Her resignation and the fake qualifications stunned many.

Source: Briefly News