Former South African Bowler Sentenced To Six Years In Jail

Former South African bowler, Pumelela Matshikwe, has been sentenced to six years in jail after being found guilty in a 2015 match-fixing scandal in the Ram Slam T20 tournament in South Africa. 

Matshikwe is the second out of six players to be convicted after Gulam Bodi under the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities (PRECCA) Act. The former Lions and South Africa A fast bowler was convicted for four breaches: 

• Receiving an incentive or payment to fix, contrive, or influence improperly a match or matches in the 2015 Ram Slam tournament
• Making a payment which would bring the sport of cricket into disrepute
• Failing to disclose payment to the CSA anti-corruption officer, which they knew or ought to have known was given to them for a breach of the Code
• Failing to disclose details of an approach to engaging in corrupt conduct and failing to disclose full details of matters evidencing a breach of the code by another participant.

Alongside Matshikwe and Bodi, Thami Tsolekile, Jean Symes, Ethy Mbhalati, and Alviro Petersen were also penalized for their involvement in the fixing scandal in 2015. 

Bodi was convicted for five years in Jail; Tsolekile, who played three Test matches for South Africa, was handed a 12-year ban; Symes got seven years ban; Mbhalati was given a ten-year ban; and Petersen, who played 36 Tests, 21 T20Is and two T20Is for South Africa, got a two-year ban. 

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The 37-year-old Pumelela Matshikwe played in 77 first-class matches,  57 List A matches, and 24 T20 games. He got a suspension of 10 years for this case.