Ntombekaya Mzongwana (31) was sentenced to six months imprisonment for shoplifting a pocket of potatoes to the value of R60. She pleaded guilty to the charge.
Ntombekaya Mzongwana (31) was sentenced to six months imprisonment for shoplifting a pocket of potatoes to the value of R60. She pleaded guilty to the charge.
The Magistrate’s Court ruled that it was necessary to sentence Mzongwana on this charge as she has been accused of shoplifting on twelve previous occasions, all in different locations around South Africa, since 1997.
The court ruled that shoplifting is a prevalent offence in the area of its jurisdiction and so it is necessary for it to pose a deterrent to warn Mzongwana and others against committing this crime.
The court expressed its disapproval of Mzongwana’s actions because society suffers as a result of people shoplifting as shops increase their prices.
Mzongwana pleaded that she has two children, aged four and eight and that she is their sole carer as their father is unemployed. She says she is in fixed employment at the municipality, earning R700 per fortnight.
An officer from Correctional Supervision testified in court that after investigation it was found that there are appropriate people to take care of her children.
The court ruled that Correctional Services will take care of the children while Mzongwana is in custody. The court found that a fine is no longer a harsh enough sentence for Mzongwana.
The court took into consideration the criteria that were set out in a previous case against Mzongwana under the Eastern Cape division that exempted her from the crime of petty theft.
These were: considerations of why the accused should be sentenced for this offense when other people are not; that the sentence must be passed in propensity to the offense; and that while the sentence should be given to repeat offenders, there are certain limits to petty crimes.
This case was referred to in a case against Mzongwana in 2003 when she was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment for shoplifting goods to the value of R84.99.
This was the eighth time she had appeared accused in court and she also served six months of her sentence.
