On February 7, Olivier convicted the honours degree student of stealing of more than R818,000 when Intellimali deposited R14m into her account in mistake on behalf of NSFAS.
R1,400 should have been the correct amount. She began spending the money right away.
Following Mani’s sentencing, Pakade filed an application for leave to appeal both his conviction and sentence.
Mani’s bail was increased.
NSFAS appeared before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) last month after Mani’s conviction. Scopa chairperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa did not accept NSFAS’s explanation that it had not lost money from the erroneous deposit and that nobody employee had been made to account for it.
Hlengwa could not be reached for comment on Wednesday while NSFAS spokesperson Kagisho Mamabolo said they stood by their February statement that no public funds were lost and that Intellimali reimbursed the money that the university had lost.
Outside court Pakade said the sentence was “shocking”.
“To us her being found guilty does not make sense. Hence we say the high court will definitely come to a reasonable conclusion of this matter and we are ready for that. We are going forward with this case.
“We are very confident that her conviction and sentence is wrong. The sentence is shocking to say the least. It’s still going to be a long journey but we are well prepared for it,” Pakade said.
Mani refused to comment.
The appeal will not go unchallenged. NPA regional spokesperson Luxolo Tyali said they were “glad justice had been served”.
“The sentence is long but we have achieved what we wanted to achieve.
“We are ready to oppose an appeal because we believe this sentence is appropriate and fits the crime.
“Dishonesty is a very serious offence, especially in this case where monies that were meant for students ended up being spent on lavish things by a person who was supposed to be responsible.
“She should have appreciated the wrongfulness of her actions in using money, which was meant for the poorest of the poor.”
Tyali said Mani would be considered eligible for correctional supervision after serving a third of the five-year sentence — or 20 months.
“The department of correctional services will be the body to determine whether she is fit for such a dispensation.”
In an hour-long sentencing, Olivier said “offences of this nature” were tightening their grip in SA and threatening the wellbeing of the people.
“It eats away at the ethical fabric of our society and stifles economic growth.
“Should these offences go unpunished, they will pose a serious threat to our democratic state.
“Even now, so many questions remain unanswered. It remains unanswered as to what happened to the luxury items …
“You have been silent on this. You have not taken the court into your confidence by stating what was done with these items or even if they still exist.
“The court has been referred on numerous occasions to your poor background and upbringing, and I’m sure everyone has sympathy for that, but that is the life of just about every South African in this country.
“You were given the benefit of studying at Walter Sisulu University. You were a beneficiary of food allowances in 2016 and 2017…
“It cannot be said that at the time of the incident you were a victim. You had risen above your personal circumstances.
“I’m mindful of the fact that funding comes directly from taxpayers’ pockets.
“You made the decision [to spend the money] on June 1 2017 and you did so repeatedly for 76 days consecutively, numerous times a day.
“The fact that you were charged with one count of theft — if you really consider and look at the facts, each time you decided to issue a voucher … to spend as much money on any given date shows that you were rushing against time to spend the maximum amount before it was brought to a halt.
“Those were conscious decisions you took every day. You were set up in a perfect position to further your studies until you made that decision.
“If Intellimali had not repaid this funding, 585 of your fellow students would not have received their monthly food allowances and that [would have been] a direct consequence of your conduct.
“The credit list appears that it was not items of need that you bought; it was luxury items inspired by greed.
“The manner in which the offence was executed is aggravating.”
Olivier postponed the case to April 11 for the presence of state prosecutor, advocate Luthando Makoyi, and to evaluate the position of the hearing.
Sibongile Mani guilty of ‘foolishness’ not theft
The ANC Youth League in the Eastern Cape and the Pan Africanist Student Movement of Azania (Pasma) have lambasted the “harsh” punishment handed out to “foolish” Sibongile Mani.
The ANC Youth League in the Eastern Cape said by finding Mani guilty of theft, the court was “stretching it”.
“For all intents and purposes, she is rather guilty of foolishness. The real crime worth the energy of the state is the combination of incompetence and corruption that is plaguing NSFAS,” ANCYL provincial spokesperson Zuko Godlimpi said.
Godlimpi said Mani was a victim and this could have happened to any other young adult from an impoverished background as they would be prone to “committing an error of judgment”.
“We strongly believe that a corrective sentence should not have been to imprison a student for foolishness. There was no criminal intent in the acquisition of the money itself but rather a case of foolishness,” Godlimpi said.
Last month, Mani was found guilty of theft by an East London regional court after spending R800,000 of the R14m that was erroneously deposited into her bank account in 2017.
On Wednesday, she was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment.
Pasma national secretary-general Zandisiwe Nyembana said the sentence was harsh.
“We feel that justice has not been served as we had expressed before that Sibongile was not the only one who should have been prosecuted.
“We accept the decision from our legal team to seek to appeal the sentence and conviction.
“We are still hoping for a suspended sentence. We feel like she is being used as a scapegoat.”
Buffalo City College Pasma branch secretary Bulelani Yeki said the change in prosecution representative from Makoyi to advocate Jacques Cilliers during sentencing proceedings showed elements of “racism and appetite to see Sibongile going to jail”.
“We will continue to support Sibongile. We hope the new prosecutor will be addressed in the appeal.
“The system is anti-black and seeks to oppress black people, hence we should fight the system.”
Intellimali, NSFAS and WSU had not responded to inquiries at the time of writing.
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