Former Eastern Cape Health MEC’s messenger sentenced to 10 years in prison for fraud

The Mthatha Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Eastern Cape has sentenced a former Health MEC’s messenger to ten years in prison for fraud.

The 37-year-old Ayanda Matinise used his proximity to the then MEC Sindiswa Gomba to fraudulently award a Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) supply tender valued at more than R23-million during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The National Prosecuting Authority regional spokesperson, Luxolo Tyali says Matinise wrote, signed and sent a forged letter to a service provider saying the department had committed to procuring 700 000 PPE items.

“This ten-year jail term given to the former MEC of the messenger is a significant step towards those who use Covid state of disaster to illegally enrich themselves are held accountable. As the prosecution, we had argued for the court to impose the prescribed minimum of 15 years. But the court found there were circumstantial circumstances, and we accept that,” says Tyali.

The Special Investigating Unit’s spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago has welcomed the sentence.

“The SIU investigation revealed that Matinise forged a signature of the Director of Supply Chain and awarded a tender to a service provider for the supply and delivery of PPE. The service provider was to deliver N95 masks to the care value of R23-million to the OR Tambo District Municipality,” says Kganyago.