KZN Advocate Receives Suspended Sentence for Stealing Hotel Appliances

• A KwaZulu-Natal prosecutor at the Verulam Regional Court has been given a wholly suspended sentence for theft
• Mzwandile Rueben Matshoba is said to have made off with hotel appliances such as a bar fridge in 2018
• Matshoba had initially made arrangements with the hotel to pay for the items missing from his hotel room but failed to do so when charges were brought against him

DURBAN - An advocate from Durban, KwaZulu-Natal has been convicted of stealing hotel appliances in 2018. The court handed down a sentence of either paying a fine of R10 000 or 10 months' imprisonment and his sentence has been suspended for five years.

According to IOL, the incident took place at a hotel in Verulam in 2018 and the crime was committed by Mzwandile Rueben Matshoba. Upon his departure, hotel employees realised that two lamps, a hotel bar fridge, a kettle and a vase were missing from the room he had been staying in.

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Natasha Kara, spokesperson for National Prosecuting Authority, stated that the hotel contacted Matshoba about the missing items. Matshoba asked the hotel to send him the bill for the items, which he never paid.

Failure to pay for the items led the hotel to institute criminal charges of theft against him. After appearing in court summons, Matshoba paid the insurance company that paid out the owners' loss to the hotel R5 000, according to HeraldLIVE.

Matshoba was given a wholly suspended sentence because he is a first-time offender and because he eventually paid towards the money owed for the stolen items. He is also a regional prosecutor at the same court that handed down his sentence in Verulam.

Couple who faked teaching qualifications and stole R1 million receive 6-year suspended sentence

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Briefly News previously reported that a married couple from Mpumalanga has been given a six-year suspended sentence for faking their teaching qualifications and defrauding the Department of Education of more than R1 million.

The sentence was handed down by the Nelspruit Commercial Crimes Court on Monday, according to a report by News24. Bongisipho Robert Mthembu and his wife Hlobisile Lindokuhle Mthembu were caught after a whistleblower alerted the authorities that they did have the correct qualifications to teach.

Hlobisile was hired at Maphala Gulube Primary School in 2007 after submitting fake qualifications. During her time there, Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi, spokesperson for the Hawks, stated that she managed to defraud the Department of Education of more than R500 000.

Source: Briefly News