The Eastern London based Serious Corruption Investigation (SCI) of the Hawks arrested a 43-year-old man for the allegations of fraudulent scholar transport scheme involving the Eastern Cape Department of Transport. Siyabulela Mvimbi briefly appeared before East London Magistrate Court last Tuesday, 25 November 2025 where he was granted a bail of R2000 and the matter was remanded to 8 December 2025 for further investigation.
According to the Hawks spokesperson Warrant Officer Ndiphiwe Mhlakuvana Mvimbi’s arrest emanated from a report submitted by the Department’s Risk office after irregularities were detected in the management of scholar transport routes. A tender for the provision of scholar transport services were duly advertised and allocated to service providers responsible for transporting learners between their homes and various schools across the province.
The report stated that during the period between 2020 and 2023, several authorized routes were closed due to substantial infrastructural damage. Despite the closure, the suspect allegedly submitted several fraudulent invoices, purporting that scholar transport services were rendered on the affected routes. The Department’s internal investigation revealed that no such services had been provided, prompting a referral of the matter to the Hawks for further investigation. A meticulous investigation by the Hawks uncovered conclusive evidence confirming that the invoices were fraudulently generated. The department was nearly prejudiced by an amount of R85 000, which was fortunately prevented as the irregularities were detected prior to the processing of any payments. After the conclusion of the investigation the accused was arrested on Tuesday, 25 November 2025.
