The Pretoria specialised commercial crimes court on Wednesday sentenced Lady Memory Mutsika, 43, to three years imprisonment after convicting her of 128 counts of theft.
Mutsika was a church treasurer of the Pretoria City Seventh-Day Adventist Church and her responsibilities included transferring tithe and offering money deposited to the church account, to the northern conference of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church.
“During a period of four years from 2012 to 2015, Mutsika transferred more than R800,000 of the money received from the tithe and offerings to her bank account and for her personal use,” National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said.
In court, Mutsika pleaded guilty to the charges and asked for a non-custodial sentence to pay the church back the money over five years.
“However, the state argued that Mutsika always indicated her willingness to pay back the money and has not paid back a single cent since March 2022, after she was convicted. The magistrate agreed with the state and said Mutsika showed no remorse,” Mahanjana said.
TimesLIVE
Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.
Treasurer of the Seventh-Day Adventist jailed for three years after stealing R800,000 from church coffers
The Pretoria specialised commercial crimes court on Wednesday sentenced Lady Memory Mutsika, 43, to three years imprisonment after convicting her of 128 counts of theft.
Mutsika was a church treasurer of the Pretoria City Seventh-Day Adventist Church and her responsibilities included transferring tithe and offering money deposited to the church account, to the northern conference of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church.
“During a period of four years from 2012 to 2015, Mutsika transferred more than R800,000 of the money received from the tithe and offerings to her bank account and for her personal use,” National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said.
In court, Mutsika pleaded guilty to the charges and asked for a non-custodial sentence to pay the church back the money over five years.
“However, the state argued that Mutsika always indicated her willingness to pay back the money and has not paid back a single cent since March 2022, after she was convicted. The magistrate agreed with the state and said Mutsika showed no remorse,” Mahanjana said.
TimesLIVE
Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.
READ MORE: