Hawks hit the brakes on driving instructor

A DRIVING instructor in the Western Cape has been sentenced for fraud in the Vredenburg Regional Court.

In a statement, Hawks spokesperson Zinzi Hani said Augustine Mramba, 36 and Riaan Wild, a traffic officer from Matzikama Municipality, were arrested by the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation team during an intelligence-driven operation on March 9, 2018.

Mramba was an instructor at a driving school.

According to Hani, the pair were arrested after allegations surfaced of corrupt activities at the Vredendal vehicle testing station.

She said the investigation revealed that code 10 driver’s licences were being sold at a minimum of R2000 each.

Mramba, who had been in custody since his arrest, was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, wholly suspended for five years on condition that he is not convicted of fraud during that period.

Mramba was handed a light sentence as the court took into account that he had entered into a plea bargain with the State in exchange for testifying against the traffic official, who is expected back in the same court on April 14.

Meanwhile, in a separate incident, Hani said Emmanuel John Ayodeii, 39, appeared at the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday after he was arrested by the Hawks.

Ayodeii faces charges of card fraud. It is alleged that on April 4 he checked into the lavish Southern Sun hotel in Cape Town and paid for his room using a cloned bank card.

Hani said the Hawks’ team was summoned to the scene by the hotel management and found Ayodeii at the establishment.

“This was after a Nedbank card division investigator alerted the staff to the suspicious transaction,” she said.

He was subsequently arrested. Ayodeii appeared in court briefly and remains incarcerated.

The matter against him has been postponed until Monday.

A driving instructor sentenced for fraud has entered into a plea bargain with the State.