Timothy Sibuyi (47), Mhala Regional Court interpreter was arrested and appeared in court on 18 September 2023.
The appearance of Sibuyi followed after he was arrested on a warrant of arrest by the Hawks Nelspruit based Serious Corruption Investigation team.
It is alleged that on 17 November 2022, Sibuyi approached the brother of an accused person who was arrested for a rape case. He invited him to his office at Mhala Magistrates’ Court. He told him that since his brother was not legally represented by Legal Aid Attorney, he could arrange a representative, but he had to pay gratification.
When the complainant offered him R1000, he refused, stating that the money was too little and he demanded R2500.00. The money was raised by the family, and R2500 was deposited into his Capitec bank account.
The complainant reported the matter to the police and the case was transferred to Nelspruit Serious Corruption Investigation for further probe.
After the accused heard that a corruption case was opened, he then approached the mother of the complainant and paid R2000 back and promised to settle the outstanding amount later.
After thorough investigation by the Hawks, a warrant for his arrest was authorized. The accused was released on R5000-0 bail, and the case was postponed to 16 October 2023.
The Provincial Head of the Hawks applauded the team for the speedy finalization of the case. He further urged the community to come forward if they had similar experience with the interpreter.
“That this is not an isolated incident. Corruption will not stop if we as citizens do not report and say enough is enough”!
During April 2021, a Calcutta Court Interpreter Zizwe Zitha (40) was also arrested for the same crime and modus operandi. His case was transferred to Nelspruit Regional Court to 19 November 2023.
The General concluded by warning all officials to serve the country with integrity. You are employed to serve your community and not to enrich yourself exploiting people’s vulnerabilities.
Content retrieved from: https://www.saps.gov.za/newsroom/msspeechdetail.php?nid=48473.
