Ntateko Ethy Mbhlati (43), appeared before the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crime Court on 04 June 2025 where he was convicted and sentenced on a charge of corruption.
During 2016, Anti-Corruption official at Cricket South Africa received information about allegations of match fixing by a former Protea Cricket player. It was reported that the former player approached several South African Cricket players to participate in a scheme to fix three 2015 and 2016 T20 Ram Slam matches. A preliminary investigation was then conducted and discovered that six Cricket players were indeed approached by by the former player and book makers from India to participate in the match fixing scheme.
National Hawks Spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale said on 26 October 2016, Anti-Corruption at Cricket South Africa reported the matter to the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation team for further investigation. The successful investigation resulted in the arrests of and conviction of three Cricket players during the period of 2018 and 2022.
On 18 November 2024, Mbhalati was arrested and in the same month both Tsotsobe and Tsolekile were also apprehended. Mbhalati appeared in court on several occasions until his recent conviction. The court sentenced Mbhalati to five years imprisonment wholly suspended for five years on condition that he is not found guilty of the same offence during the period of suspension.
This brings the total of four former players that have been convicted and sentenced in relation to the T20 match fixing scandal.
Tsotsobe and Tsolekile’s cases are still continuing where they will make their next appearance in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes court on the 02 October 2025.