Cape Town – Two senior Drakenstein municipal employees have been sentenced to 15 years imprisonment after being convicted of fraud and corruption.
In a statement on Monday, the Western Cape National Prosecuting Authority said municipal superintendent Ezra Abrahams and senior clerk Shamiel Cupido were sentenced to 10 years for corruption and five years for fraud.
They were found guilty by the Paarl Regional Court recently of soliciting bribes from Paarl Auto, MAG and Wynland Auto between 2004 and 2006 in exchange for the referral of municipal vehicles to the dealerships.
The corrupt relationship resulted in more than R2m directed towards the businesses.
Abrahams' daughter Vanessa Abrahams was also convicted of fraud and sentenced to three years correctional supervision as well as a suspended five-year prison sentence.
This after Vanessa received employment from Wynland Auto following the arrangement with her father.
In the statement Prosecutor Tommy Bunguzana said it was important that severe punishment was meted out in cases of corruption.
"It is in the best interest of the society that courts...take stern action against those who have abused and betrayed their positions of trust and perpetrate with impunity fraud and corruption that has become endemic in this country," he said.
