MAN GETS 38YRS FOR 21 COUNTS OF THEFT

MANZINI – A man was sentenced to a total of 38 years imprisonment with an option to pay E40 000 fine for defrauding people of their monies amounting to E21 096 on 21 occasions.

Thulani Bezile Dlamini (27) of Maphalaleni appeared before Manzini Magistrate Sicelo Lokothwayo yesterday. He was slapped with a total of 21 counts of theft by false pretences. It was gathered that the accused would call various people and lie by saying he had accidentally sent e-wallet monies and requested them to resend them. On other events, Dlamini called others and told them that he found their lost identity cards, or cattle. It was said he would listen to announcements on the national radio station, to track his victims and then lure them into pay him their monies.

Among the offences committed, Dlamini’s recent crime was committed on Sunday, when he defrauded Khanyisile Mkhonta of her E2 500 in Manzini. According to the charge sheet, he misrepresented himself to the complainant, by saying he mistakenly sent e-Wallet amounting to E2 500. In the same vein, the accused defrauded Buyile Vilakati of her E2 100 on June 17, 2022, using the same tactic. He also defrauded Nomalungelo Fakudze of her E412 under the pretence that he had sent her E2 500 by mistake.

Misrepresented

Meanwhile, he reportedly misrepresented himself to Jabulani Mdluli of Nhlambeni by calling and telling him that he had found his lost national identity card. The accused asked the complainant to send him E350 for his recovered ID. During his appearance, Dlamini pleaded guilty to all 21 counts. In his mitigation, he apologised to the court for the offences and said he deserved to be punished. He said he was embarrassed of the crimes he had committed. He begged the court to be lenient towards him, so that he could fix his transgressions. Dlamini said he left his children and siblings back home, who were without anyone, as their parents had died while they were young.Dlamini further claimed he was unemployed and relied on odd jobs. He also revealed that he had two children.

Before delivering his sentence, Magistrate Lokothwayo said the accused ought to count himself blessed because the prosecutor employed a method that was merciful when dealing with him. Lokothwayo quipped that if it were up to him, he would have brought all the witnesses in court and further made sure that everyone remembered the accused for his deeds. “Theft by false pretences is on the rise and the opposite side of the pendulum is that they are on the rise when the economy is so bad and people are struggling with money,” Lokothwayo said.

Justification

The magistrate elaborated that the victims had even sent the little money they had. He reiterated that there was no justification for committing a crime, even if one was in a poor state of affairs, it was no excuse to make others suffer twice or three times what he was suffering. He reckoned that the accused must be intelligent, as he took time to think of the method that he employed to defraud people of their monies. He said these methods were well practised.

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