A shoplifter who at the age of 23 already has four small children was urged by a Cape Town magistrate to use condoms in future.

Mzawanele Japhta, of Joe Slovo informal settlement on the Cape Flats, pleaded guilty to stealing four packs of Vienna sausages and cheddar cheese, worth a total of R299, from a supermarket in Century City.

The prosecutor told magistrate Grant Engel that according to the police docket Japhta had no previous convictions, but Japhta's attorney said his client did have a previous conviction for shoplifting.

Japhta was unemployed, and had no money to pay a fine.

Engel said he would give Japhta a second chance, and not jail him.

But Engel added: "You are only 23, and already have four small children, and it is evident that you have no contact with them if you do not even know their ages.

"You can't even provide for yourself, let alone for your children."

He urged Japhta to go to a clinic for free condoms, "before you end up with 30 children".

Engel sentenced Japhta to R1, 500 or 90 days in prison, suspended for five years.