'Too harsh' or 'justice served'? — Sibongile Mani's sentence splits Mzansi

Walter Sisulu University (WSU) student Sibongile Mani’s conviction and sentence have prompted mixed reactions on social media, with many saying she is a “low hanging fruit” compared with “real criminals”. 

Mani, on Wednesday, was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for theft relating to R14m erroneously credited to her account by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) in 2017.

East London regional court magistrate Twanette Olivier found Mani guilty of stealing R818,000 of the funds. 

She was entitled to a R1,400 allowance from the scheme and was accused of failing to report the R14m when it was credited to her account incorrectly. She instead embarked on a spending spree.

NPA spokesperson Luxolo Tyali said Mani’s sentence is subject to the provisions of section 276(1)i of the Criminal Procedure Act, which could see her eligible for parole after about 10 months. She would then finish the rest of the sentence under correctional supervision.

Mani was arrested in May 2018 by the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Unit after IntelliMali opened a case of theft.

In a statement, released ahead of her sentencing, the NSFAS said it was saddened by her conviction. 

It said it had not incurred any financial loss from the ordeal. 

“No public funds were lost in the unfortunate process that led to the R14m error and the R818,000 that was subsequently misappropriated by the student. 

“Preliminary investigations by the service provider (IntelliMali) had established that these funds belonged to the university, and not NSFAS as initially believed,” said the NSFAS. 

ANC Youth League Eastern Cape spokesperson Zuko Godlimpi said the charges against Mani were ill-conceived and the sentence was too harsh.

“It is true that the money received by the student was not due to her. It is also true that there was the wise option of alerting the university or NSFAS about the error. However, the argument that this was theft is a stretch,” he said in a statement. 

Godlimpi said Mani was guilty of “foolishness” and that the appropriate sentence would have been a suspended sentence bound to community service, not jail time.

“The real crime worth the energy of the state is the combination of incompetence and corruption that is plaguing NSFAS. Here we simply have a case of a young person from an impoverished background committing an error of judgment when an unforeseen amount landed in her account. This could have happened in the case of any other young adult in similar circumstances,” Godlimpi said. 

He said there was no criminal intent but rather a case of foolishness in what to do immediately after seeing this amount in her account.

“The very act of splurging on booze, groceries, fashion items etc was enough to demonstrate that this is more a case of childishness than grand thuggery,” said Godlimpi.

The SA Student Union of Students said the court failed to serve justice.

“We believe that today justice was not served because justice partially served is injustice! The reality is that Sibongile did not break into a vault and steal R14m,” said Saus. 

On social media, many, including One SA Movement leader Mmusi Maimane, expressed their views on the sentence. 

Here is a snapshot of what they had to say:

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