Three former South African cricketers arrested for match fixing

Three former South Africa cricketers, Thami Tsolekile, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, and Ethy Mbhalati, have been arrested as they had been accused in a match fixing scandal in October 2016. The three cricketers have been arrested for their involvement in the scandal on November 18, 28, and 29, respectively.

The three former stars were implicated in a match-fixing scandal in the T20 Ram Slam Challenge 2015/16. The arrests happened after an investigation by the Serious Corruption Investigation Unit of the DPCI.

Furthermore, the first investigations began when Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) anti-corruption unit had received reports of certain suspicious activities regarding former player Gulam Bodi in 2016. The investigations then revealed that Bodi had contacted multiple players in order to fix the results of three local T20 matches. 

“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,” Colonel Mogale was quoted as saying by InsideSport.

It is also worth noting that among the three accused, only Lonwabo Tsotsobe managed to compete for South Africa on an international level, whereas the other two remained limited to domestic cricket. 

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South Africa amidst Test series against Sri Lanka

Speaking of South Africa, the men’s team is currently in between a Test series against Sri Lanka. Both sides locked horns in the first Test at Kingsmead, Durban, from November 27. After three days of play, the Proteas have managed to dominate the visitors. 

After South Africa were limited to 191 runs in the first innings, they bundled out Sri Lanka for just 42 runs. Furthermore, the side declared on a score of 366 in the second innings, giving Sri Lanka a target of 516 runs to chase down.