‘Millionaire NSFAS student’ will only hear verdict in 2022

14 December 2021 - 13:20 By TimesLIVE
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Sibongile Mani during a previous appearance in the East London regional court. She is accused of spending R800,000 of NSFAS money in 2017 after R14m accidentally landed in her student account.
Sibongile Mani during a previous appearance in the East London regional court. She is accused of spending R800,000 of NSFAS money in 2017 after R14m accidentally landed in her student account.
Image: Malibongwe Dayimani

Walter Sisulu University student Sibongile Mani, who erroneously received more than R14m in her student account from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), will only know the verdict in her theft trial next year.

The case was set down for judgment in an East London courtroom on Tuesday, but the case could not proceed because the presiding officer was sick, reported AlgoaFM. DispatchLIVE reported the case will resume in February.

Mani is accused of theft after she allegedly spent more than R800,000 of the R14m. The amount was credited to her in June 2017. Mani was an accounting student at the time and was only entitled to receive R1,400.

Within two hours of the accidental transfer, Mani allegedly spent R20,000 on cigarettes and alcohol, according to a previous report on the case.

Another 2017 report said she allegedly doled out favours to friends who slugged back shots of whisky — the kind that costs R700 a bottle. She and her posse allegedly swaggered around wearing expensive weaves and showed off iPhone 7s and other signs of success until the bubble burst.

It is alleged the millions were erroneously deposited into her account by Cape Town-based company Intellimali, which was contracted by  the NSFAS to make payments to students.

Mani is accused of failing to report the error and embarking on a spending spree, using nearly R820,000 in 73 days. It is the state’s case that this was between June 1, 2017, when the money landed in Mani’s account, until August 13, 2017, when the NSFAS discovered the error.

She was arrested in May 2018 by the serious commercial crime unit of the Hawks. 

Mani declined to testify on her own behalf in the trial.

Intellimali director Roy Jackson previously told the court an “absurd glitch” had caused the “system error”.

During cross-examination, when he was asked by state prosecuting advocate Luthando Makoyi why he felt it necessary to lay a theft charge against Mani, Jackson said it was because Intellimali suffered financial losses due to Mani’s spending. He said apart from the lost R800,000, Intellimali had incurred R500,000 by hiring auditors Ernst & Young.

TimesLIVE


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