A former prison warder at Matatshe Prison, Azwinndini Norman Nemakhavhani (45), was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for corruption, fraud and releasing a prisoner unlawfully, by the Thohoyandou High Court on Tuesday.

The case relates to an incident that took place at the Matatshe Prison, or Thohoyandou Management Area as it is today known, on August 16, 1999.

The court heard that a certain Joe Ngoveni had been sentenced to six years behind bars for stock theft in 1998. It was testified that Ngoveni and Nemakhavhani became friends during Ngoveni’s stay in prison. The court learnt that Ngoveni used to give Nemakhavhani some gifts and cash during his stay in prison. The friendship led to Nemakhavhani’s succumbing to the temptation to release Ngoveni from prison unlawfully.

It was revealed in court that, on 16 March 1999, Nemakhavhani committed fraud by forging signatures of his superiors on the warrant of liberation document and ultimately issued a false certificate of release. Nemakhavhani was then made to undergo internal disciplinary processes, which ultimately led to his dismissal.

A special investigation unit from Pretoria was then deployed at the prison to investigate reports of corruption. The investigation led to Nemakhavhani’s arrest. He was found guilty of corruption, fraud and releasing a prisoner unlawfully.

He was sentenced to 10 years for corruption, 6 years for fraud and 4 years for releasing a prisoner unlawfully. Although Nemakhavhani was sentenced to 20 years on the three charges, he will spend only 10 years behind bars as half of the sentence was suspended.

Before pronouncing sentence, Judge GNK Hetisani said that corrupt public servants are tarnishing the good image of the government and that a long jail sentence for Nemakhavhani will send a clear message to other corrupt officials that corruption is not only hampering service delivery in the public service domain but it is also a sin. Adv MJ Mushasha was the defence council while Adv RJ Makhera was prosecuting.