Thami Tsolekile, Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Ethy Mbhalati have been arrested by the Hawks for their roles in a match-fixing scheme during the 2015-16 T20 Ram Slam Challenge.
Tsolekile and Tsotsobe, both former Proteas players, were arrested on Thursday and Friday respectively, while Mbhalati, who represented the Titans, was arrested on 18 November.
“The arrests come after a meticulous investigation by the Serious Corruption Investigation component of the DPCI, following allegations reported by a whistleblower in October 2016,” read a statement from the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, commonly known as the Hawks
“Tsolekile and Tsotsobe were both charged with five counts of corruption under Section 15 of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, 2004 [PRECCA].
“They both appeared in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court today, 29 November 2024 where their case was postponed to 26 February 2025 for disclosure.”
Mbhalati had already appeared in the court, with the matter postponed to 20 February 2025 for further instructions.
The trio was approached by former Proteas player Gulam Bodi to fix three T20 Ram Slam matches in collusion with bookmakers from India.
In October 2019, Bodi was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to eight charges of corruption.
The other player involved in the saga, ex-Lions batsman Jean Symes, was arrested in May 2021. After pleading guilty to one count of corruption, he was given a four-year suspended prison sentence.
