CAPE TOWN May 31 (ANA) – A prison official who submitted a false motor vehicle accident claim against the Road Accident Fund and, in support of his claim, added two false statements, under Oath, was sentenced on Wednesday to three years house arrest.
He was also declared unfit to possess a firearm — routine procedure for anyone convicted of any offence involving dishonesty — and ordered to surrender his prison service pistol within 48 hours, at the nearest police station.
In addition, he received two five-year prison sentences, both conditionally suspended for five years.
Eric Ncedo Matoti, 39, of Elsies River in Cape Town’s northern suburbs, appeared before magistrate Sabrina Sonnenberg, in the Bellville Specialised Commercial Crime Court.
The court specialises in serious “white collar crime” such as fraud, theft, corruption and defeating the ends of justice.
Matoti pleaded guilty to charges of perjury, relating to the two false statements that he made whilst under oath, and fraud, relating to his fake R339,697 claim against the RAF.
In his claim, he falsely stated that he was a passenger in the vehicle involved, and that he had been asleep when the collision occurred, when in fact he had been the driver.
The matter took the form of a plea bargain, negotiated by defence attorney Chantel Morgan, with prosecutor Simone Liedeman.
Because the claim involved in excess of R100,000, Matoti faced a prescribed jail sentence — how many years, the charge sheet did not specify — but the prosecutor and defence agreed during the plea negotiations that the circumstances did not justify a prison sentence.
In addition to the house arrest, Matoti has to do 16 hours community service a week, for the three years, the place and times to be determined by the prison authorities.
The court warned Matoti that he may not consume liquor or narcotic substances for the full duration of his house arrest, and that the prison authorities had the right of access to his home at any time of the day or night, to ensure that was at home whenever he was supposed to be, and not under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
The magistrate declared the agreed sentence “fair and just”.
– African News Agency (ANA)
