ANC councillor Bongo Nombiba reported for his first day in prison on Monday.

He was due to begin serving his five-year jail sentence for fraud and money laundering at St Alban’s prison.

Hawks provincial spokesperson Captain Annelisa Feni said he handed himself over to the clerk of the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court.

Nombiba has failed in appeals against his fraud conviction and sentencing to the high court in Makhanda, the Supreme Court of Appeal and the Constitutional Court.

Because he is a ward councillor, a by-election will have to be held within three months to replace him.

The Port Elizabeth Commercial Crimes Court was told that Nombiba had facilitated a donation from the Ward 20 municipal discretionary fund to the Thulamangwane Community Project.

Nombiba then instructed the project group to put the request for a donation in writing, but to not say how much money it was asking for.

On November 4 2014, the funds were paid by the municipality into the NGO’s Standard Bank account.

Two days later, Nombiba told Thulamangwane’s management that the request had been approved and then convinced two of its members to withdraw R7,000 and R13,000 to be handed over to him.