A disgraced attorney, Sepalela Rahab Mathobela, who was sentenced for stealing money from her clients lost an appeal on her six-year sentence.
The 42-year-old was sentenced on April 16, 2019. In September that year, her leave to appeal the sentence imposed by the Regional Court was granted and she was out on bail.
In her appeal, heard at the North West High Court, Mathobela argued that six-year sentence was shockingly severe and excessive. She said the court should have imposed a sentence of correctional supervision or a suspended sentence.
She added that the court failed to consider the fact that she paid back the R331,147 she had stolen with interest of over R19,000.
She further emphasised that she pleaded guilty and didn’t waste the court’s time, which was a sign of remorse, and she was a first time offender.
She said before the incident, she was married and has a 19-year-old daughter. But now that she has been struck from the roll of attorneys, she’s separated from her husband, she’s unemployed, and lives with her mother who supports her financially.
Judge Ronald Hendricks said as an attorney, Mathobela was in a position of trust and she deceived her clients and stole money from a deceased estate and it was intended for vulnerable children.
Judge Hendricks said the offences were not isolated but were perpetrated over a period of time and would have continued if not detected.
He added that Mathobela’s theft and fraud with money intended for vulnerable children, as last sign of love and respect from the deceased, offends against the moral rectitude of society.
“The conclusion reached by the Regional Magistrate that direct imprisonment was the only suitable sentence, when weighed up against the alternative sentences proposed, cannot be faulted.
“...To reiterate, no misdirection was committed by the Regional Magistrate, and I am of the view that the sentence is not shockingly severe and disproportionate to the offences committed. The appeal against sentence should consequently fail,” said the judge.
IOL News