Two justice officials will pay back the money they stole

Two Department of Justice officials who defrauded their employer of more than R1-million have promised to pay the state its money back.

Lovelock Modiba, 42, and Floyd Vumani, 38, made their promise yesterday to the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court. The two pleaded guilty last year on charges of fraud, racketeering and money laundering.

They were allegedly part of a group including three other people and two close corporations who used an elaborate payment scheme to steal about R3.5-million, a large portion of which had been earmarked for witness fees at the Mamelodi Magistrate's Court. The other three accused are yet to stand trial.

MacDonald Khumalo, the lawyer for the two, said Modiba was willing to give up his pension of R789,000 to the state and pay R3,500 in monthly instalments until he had paid back what he had stolen.

Modiba received about R900,000 of the stolen money and Vumani got about R130,000.

Vumani told the court that he was willing to pay R10,000 upfront and monthly instalments of R3,000 thereafter.

Testifying in mitigation of sentence yesterday, correctional officer Nape Mapitsa recommended that the two men be sentenced to correctional supervision.

Probation officer Patience Legbye told the court that only jail sentences were appropriate for the crime.

She said Vumani's explanation that he took “an opportunity to make money and feed himself” because he was unemployed was no excuse.

“There are many South Africans who are unemployed,” she said.

Vumani had worked as a court clerk until his contract was terminated.

Modiba's former supervisor and Director of Finance at the Department of Justice, Robert Pearce, told the court that Modiba had betrayed the department's trust. As a result they were now making senior officials sign declarations of trust.

The matter has been postponed until March for sentencing.