Pretoria - Three former Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) students who tried to extort R100 000 from a private security company in exchange for the extension of its contract with the institution have been sentenced to six years’ imprisonment.
Emmanuel Ramalata, 30, Mpho Lesiba Kekana, 35, and Nematshema Thanzielo, 30, were sentenced in the Pretoria Special Commercial Crimes Court for their brazen attempts in 2016 to solicit money from the company.
At the time of the incident, only Ramalata and Thanzielo were registered students, while Kekana could not register due to outstanding fees.
Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said at the time that one of the suspects was a serving member of the SRC, and the other two were former students.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said that in 2016 Ramalata and Thanzielo had approached security manager Herman Thyssen, now deceased, and introduced themselves as student leaders.
Mahanjana said the students informed Thyssen that they had influence over which security company could be appointed or removed at the institution. The students then indicated to the manager that they could ensure the company continued to work for the university.
The manager indicated he did not have the power to make such arrangements, and instead offered to organise a meeting between them and his supervisor.
"The supervisor reported the matter to the police, who then set up an operation. A police official pretended to be the supervisor and met with Ramalata and Thanzielo, who made the same request they did to Thyssen. They said they needed an amount of R40 000 to ensure that the contract was renewed."
Mahanjana said arrangements were made to meet with the students on November 15, 2016, to finalise the deal and hand over the money.
The undercover police agent met with Ramalata, Thanzielo, and Kekana at Hotel 224 in Pretoria, where the amount of R40 000 was handed over, which they then proceeded to share among themselves.
The police pounced on the trio as soon as they left the hotel, and recovered the money at the scene.
During their appearance in court, the men were sentenced to six years’ imprisonment each for corruption.
"We welcome the sentence and are thankful to all partners for their dedication in the investigation of this matter," Mahanjana said.
Pretoria News