Thursheus Edin Fabian Snyders (48), a former senior administrative officer at Kouga local municipality in the Eastern Cape, has been found guilty of corruption after he accepted bribes.
Snyders, who worked at the auxiliary services, was allegedly accepting favours in exchange for securing business for WOOA Telecomms.
WOOA Telecomms provided wireless telecom rentals to the municipality.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), it took 11 years for Snyders to be held accountable for his involvement in a corrupt scheme within the municipality.
He accounted for crimes that occurred between 2012 and 2014 and was finally convicted by the Gqeberha Specialised Commercial Crimes Court.
The NPA spokesperson, Luxolo Tyali, said Snyders accepted multiple payments totalling R48 400 from WOOA Telecomms.
“In return, he manipulated procurement procedures and ensured the company received unfair advantages, including preferential treatment in tender processes and early payment of invoices for contracts to maintain telecommunication,” said Tyali.
Influencing the awarding of tenders
Police investigations revealed that Snyders had acted in collusion with Derval Coral Rust and Werner Rust from WOOA Telecomms to influence the award of municipal tenders, some of which were later cancelled due to fraudulent activities.
“The court heard that Snyders has no previous criminal convictions, and his case has been remanded to April 14 for sentencing proceedings,” Tyali added.
Meanwhile, the court has ordered the preparation of a probation officer’s report, a correctional supervision report, and a pre-sentence report ahead of the next hearing.
His co-accused, Derval Coral Rust and Werner Rust, will face trial on April 7 for their roles in the corrupt activities that led to Snyder’s conviction.
“The NPA remains committed to holding individuals in positions of trust accountable for their corrupt actions.
“This conviction sends a clear message that those who abuse their office for personal gain will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said Tyali.
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Biased journalism as usual. There is a noticeable pattern of them targeting colored people and spreading unresearched biased ccomments. They were the ONLY media house not to write an article on Ralliom Razwinane when he was found guilty and fined and banned. Just shows…. Spineless useless, bent imbiciles