Former Thohoyandou prosecutor Leonard Ratshilumela Makhado (50) was convicted and sentenced to six years in prison by the Giyani Specialised Commercial Crime Court on Wednesday, 7 December, after he pleaded guilty to charges of corruption.
Makhado was arrested by the Hawks' Serious Corruption Investigation team in Limpopo during an undercover operation in May of 2020, after he was accused of receiving a bribe of R6 000 to squash a case of reckless and negligent driving against a minor. He and his co-accused, Mbofholowo Freedom Tshikovhele, then allegedly tried to burn down the house of a key witness in another case in which Makhado is accused of corruption and defeating the ends of justice.
In aggravation of the sentence, the state advocate, Evans Lebese, submitted that the country's economy was bleeding from corrupt activities, and that corruption damaged employees' morale and organisational reputation and undermined the rule of law. He said the accused had been expected to uphold the rule of the law, but instead acted to the contrary. Lebese argued that Makhado and others who practice this misconduct should be deterred from committing similar offences. The state recommended eight years of direct imprisonment in terms of section 26 (1) a (i) of the prevention and combating of Corruption Activities Act 12 of 2004.
Makhado also faces four counts of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder. He and Tshikovhele will appear again together in the Sibasa Regional court on 24 January 2023.
The father of the minor accused of reckless and negligent driving in 2020, Mr Nicholas Netshiomvani, who is also a member of the provincial South African Civic Association (SANCO), said he accepted Makhado's six-year sentence, but that he was still worried about the corruption in Thohoyandou's Magistrate's Court by senior management members.