Former South Africa batsman Gulam Bodi has been banned for 20 years by his country's cricket board after he admitted that he was planning to fix matches in a domestic Twenty20 competition.
Cricket South Africa chief executive Haroon Lorgat announced the sanction on Monday.
Bodi was charged with several counts of match-fixing at a hearing on December 31 last year, Lorgat said. He had until January 18 to respond to the charges.
Lorgat said investigators believe Bodi was caught in the "planning stage" with regard to trying to fix the domestic games late last year but the probe was still ongoing, and could take "weeks, months or even years."
"CSA thoroughly considered all the relevant factors and determined that a lengthy ban was appropriate," Lorgat said.
Bodi retired from cricket last year and didn't play in the Ram Slam Twenty20 competition or a warm-up tournament that was also targeted for fixes.
He was previously named by Cricket South Africa as a suspected "intermediary" between betting syndicates and players in the competition.
Under South African law, the cricket body also had to report the corrupt activity to criminal authorities and Bodi could face a jail sentence.
The 37-year-old Bodi played two one-day internationals and a Twenty20 game for South Africa in 2007.
"Our attitude to corruption will always be one of zero tolerance," Lorgat said.
"There is no doubt that Mr Bodi’s actions have threatened the integrity and image of the game that we love and he must be handed a strong punishment.
"We have had many discussions with Mr Bodi and he accepts the folly of his actions.
“We are fortunate in this instance that several players rejected his approaches and, as a direct result of our integrity processes, which include CSA and SACA player education programmes, the matter was brought to light and meticulously investigated.
"There are no winners in this sort of ill-fated and unfortunate matter. However, all of us in the cricket community must learn from this experience and remain vigilant.
"We expect that that Mr Bodi himself will learn and will actively assist us in reminding players of the dangers of corrupt behaviour."
The investigation reopens wounds in South Africa following the Hansie Cronje scandal, when South Africa's Test captain was banned for life for fixing in 2000.
Cronje, who died in a plane crash 2002, was one of the country's most popular sports stars and one of the game's leading names and the scandal rocked South African sport and world cricket.
Lorgat said that five years of the 20-year ban from all cricket-related activities for Bodi had been suspended provided he took part in anti-corruption education programs when asked to by CSA.