Courtesy: CSA
In a shocking turn of events, former South African players Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Thamsanqa Tsolekile, and Ethy Mbhalati, have been arrested for match fixing by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), also known as the Hawks, in the rainbow nation. These three players were implicated in a match fixing scandal in connection with the Ram Slam T20 Challenge in the 2015-16 season before being put behind bars after an extensive investigation by the Serious Corruption Investigation unit of the DPCI.
According to the report in Cricbuzz, a whistleblower first reported about match fixing in the tournament in South Africa in October 2016, following which the special unit of the DPCI investigated the matter in detail before arresting Ethy Mbhalati on November 18, while Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Thamsanqa Tsolekile met the similar fate on November 28 and 29 respectively. While the case of Mbhalati has been postponed to February 20, 2025, by the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court, the case involving five counts of corruption on Tsotsobe and Tsolekile has been postponed to February 26, 2025.
We thank Cricket South Africa for their cooperation and commitment to addressing this scourge: DPCI National Head
The cases involving these three South African players goes back to the CSA’s anti-corruption officer suspecting Gulam Bodi’s potential involvement in match fixing. It led to an investigation, which revealed that Bodi conspired with bookmakers from India, approaching players to fix three Ram Slam matches, for which the Hawks arrested him in July 2018 before he pleaded guilty to eight counts of corruption, and a five year sentence was announced for him in October 2019.
A couple of other players arrested in the matter were Jean Symes and Pumi Matshikwe, who were sentenced to four and six years respectively, wholly suspended for five years. In his statement to the press, General Godfrey Lebeya, the national head of the DPCI, remarked, “Corruption undermines the integrity of sport. The Hawks are committed to upholding fairness and professionalism in all spheres of society. We thank Cricket South Africa for their cooperation and commitment to addressing this scourge.”
