Five years for former state employee who took R160k from Digital Vibes

The Pretoria specialised commercial crimes court on Friday sentenced a former senior Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (Misa) official, Lizeka Tonjeni, to five years' imprisonment for corruption related to the Digital Vibes contract.

Tonjeni was in May convicted on one count of corruption involving R160,000.

Misa falls under the ministry of co-operative governance and traditional affairs. It is mandated to provide technical support and build capacity in local government. 

In 2018, when Misa awarded a tender of almost R4m to Digital Vibes to render communication services for 24 months, Tonjeni was nominated as project manager responsible for the appointment and management of the service provider. 

“From December 2018 until August 2020, while Tonjeni was still a project manager, she received payments of R160,000 that were not authorised and due to her, from Digital Vibes,” National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said.

After investigations by the Hawks, Tonjeni handed herself over and was arrested at the Pretoria Central police station in May 2022.

“In court, she pleaded not guilty to the charges and denied that she received payments from Digital Vibes in a corrupt manner,” Mahanjana said.

In her testimony Tonjeni said the payments received from the brain behind Digital Vibes, Tahera Mather, were for weight loss and energy booster products she was selling. Tonjeni testified she still owed Mather R85,000 as she was unable to deliver some of the products. 

“However, a team of prosecutors, advocates Willem van Zyl and Phumla Dwane-Alpman, called witnesses who are Misa employees, to testify and adduced evidence to prove that indeed Tonjeni was guilty of the charges preferred against her.”   

During sentencing proceedings, Tonjeni asked the court to impose a non-custodial sentence of correctional supervision because she has a minor child to take care of.    

However, the state asked for direct imprisonment because Tonjeni committed corruption that is widespread on the part of state functionaries. The state also argued Tonjeni showed no remorse for the offences committed. 

“The NPA welcomes the sentence and wants to send a strong message that corrupt officials know that impunity is no longer a given and that dreaded knock on the door has become a realistic prospect,” Mahanjana said. 

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