Former PRASA executive convicted of fraud
31 January 2022
The former head of engineering services at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA), Daniel Mshushisi Mthimkhulu was convicted on three counts of fraud by the Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crime Court sitting in Palm Ridge earlier today.
Mthimkhulu was charged with nine counts of fraud for allegedly misrepresenting his qualifications to PRASA, claiming amongst others, to have acquired a Master’s degree from the University of Witwatersrand, as well as a Doctorate in Engineering Management from the Technische Universitat Munchen (Munich Technical University) in Germany.
As a result of this misrepresentation, the rail agency suffered prejudice in that Mthimkhulu’s annual salary hiked from R1.6 million as executive manager, heading the engineering services to R2.8 million. In June 2010, he lied to PRASA about a job offer received from a German engineering firm, for a position as an engineering services specialist at a salary of R2.8 million per annum. Consequently, PRASA made Mthimkhulu a counter-offer in September 2010 at a salary of R2,8 million.
State Advocate James Bhengu from the NPA's Specialised Commercial Crime Unit (SCCU) argued that “PRASA suffered prejudice as it was induced into employing and keeping Mthimkhulu in its employment, under a false and fraudulent profile. The court should reject his version that his Curriculum Vitae (CV) was manipulated by a third party as farfetched and strange. His actions exacerbated the financial situation at the rail agency that was already suffering from financial constraints”.