City of Joburg ‘office burglar’s’ bail deferred

Deliwe Mthembu broke down when she began talking about her granddaughter Mandisa Mthembu, who is accused of breaking into the offices of the City of Johannesburg in Braamfontein.

Mthembu, 79, of Sebokeng in the Vaal, said she only learnt about her granddaughter’s arrest last month when police arrived to verify her residential address.

The grandmother said police informed her that Mandisa had been arrested and they had come just to verify if indeed she lived in her home. “I did not know anything about her breaking into anybody’s property. I only learnt about that from the police that day,” she said.

Mthembu, who raised Mandisa from the time she was a toddler, said she was a good child who carried the hopes of the family on her shoulders.

“She went to Vaal University of Technology; after finishing her qualification in computers she started her business of installing security cameras. People in the township would call her to instal cameras in their homes.

“After getting paid, she would come home carrying groceries for me and I was extremely happy about her progress in life,” Mthembu said.

Mandisa Pertunia, 37, was arrested on February 7 in the early hours of the morning after allegedly breaking into the City of Johannesburg offices. She is charged with theft and housebreaking with intent to steal.

Officials of the city had previously caught her on camera leaving the building with a bag full of computer hard drives.

Her grandmother told Sowetan that Mandisa’s behaviour changed in 2020.

Mthembu said Mandisa left her home in November 2021 but came to visit not long before her arrest.

“She would go around the house insulting me. It hurt me so bad. I raised her alone and yet she turned against me. She even took her shack from the yard as our relationship was getting worse,” Mthembu said.

“Every day I pray for my granddaughter that God must remember her. I have forgiven her for the wrong she has done because I use the Lord’s prayer when I sleep. I have no problem with the mistakes that she has made because she was not herself.

“My wish is that the court may be merciful to her and not be harsh,” Mthembu said.

Mandisa appeared in the Johannesburg magistrate’s court on Wednesday for a bail application.

In her affidavit, she said she is self-employed and makes a living by fixing alarm systems.

She said she has a five-year-old child and her work gives her R7,000 a month and she can afford R500 bail.

However, the state opposed bail as Mandisa has a pending matter of trespassing against her which was opened at the Johannesburg Central police station.

This forced the court not to make a decision on her bail.

“But I want bail guys,” Mandisa told her lawyers who were explaining why she would spend more nights in jail.

The case was postponed to April 7 to allow the investigating officer to produce a warrant of arrest which was issued in relation to the pending case.