Court interpreter in the dock to face corruption charge

A Mpumalanga regional court interpreter who allegedly received a bribe from the family of a rape accused appeared in court on Monday on a charge of corruption. 

In November 2022, Timothy Sibuyi, 47, allegedly invited the brother of an accused arrested for a rape case to his office in the Mhala regional court.  

“He told him that as his brother was not legally represented by a Legal Aid attorney, he could arrange a representative but he had to pay gratification,” Mpumalanga Hawks spokesperson Capt Dineo Sekgotodi said.

She said when the man offered him R1,000, the accused allegedly refused, saying it was too little and demanded R2,500.  

“The money was raised by the family and R2,500 was deposited into his Capitec bank account.” 

The complaint was reported to the police and the case was transferred to the Nelspruit branch of the Hawks' serious corruption investigation unit. 

“After the accused heard a corruption case was opened, he approached the mother of the complainant and paid R2,000 back and promised to settle the outstanding amount later.” 

Sibuyi was released on R5,000 bail and the case was postponed to October 16. 

Mpumalanga Hawks head Maj-Gen Nicholas Gerber urged the community to come forward if they had similar experiences with the interpreter. 

TimesLIVE