Former South African bowler Pumelela Matshikwe convicted in 2015 Ram Slam fixing case

Pumelela Matshikwe, has been handed a six-year jail sentence - suspended for five years - for his involvement in the 2015 match-fixing scandal in the Ram Slam T20 tournament in South Africa.

Matshikwe, the former Lions and South Africa A fast bowler, was one of six players to be handed lengthy suspensions by CSA's anti-corruption unit back in 2016. He was suspended for ten years from all cricket and has now become the second player - Gulam Bodi was the first - to be convicted under the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities (PRECCA) Act, which came into effect in 2004, in the aftermath of the Hansie Cronje match-fixing saga at the turn of the millennium. Matshikwe was convicted following a plea agreement with a crime court in Pretoria on Friday.

Matshikwe was convicted for the following breaches:

The other players who have been penalised in connection with the 2015 case are Bodi, Thami Tsolekile, Jean Symes, Ethy Mbhalati and Alviro Petersen. Bodi was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to eight charges of corruption, in 2019.

Tsolekile, a former South Africa Test cricketer, was handed a 12-year ban for "contriving to fix a match or matches in the 2015 Ram Slam; failing to disclose to the CSA Anti-Corruption Officer the full details of an approach to engage in corrupt conduct". Symes was banned for seven years, while Mbhalati was handed a ten-year ban. Petersen, the most prominent of the cricketers who turned out in 36 Tests, 21 T20Is and two T20Is, was banned for two years by CSA after admitting to 13 breaches of the anti-corruption code.

Matshikwe, now 37, played 77 first-class matches, in which he picked 178 wickets at an average of 30.01. He was also part of 57 List A matches, and 24 T20 games between 2009 to 2016.