Sibongile Mani was sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of stealing R818 000 designated for disadvantaged pupils. Her well-wisher on the other hand believed that the sentence imposed on Sibongile is more close to a death sentence.
Sibongile Mani is a finance and accounting student at Walter Sisulu University in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. She was detained by the Hawks for stealing money and defrauding others.
She is sentenced to five years in jail for theft of National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) monies.
Is Sibongile Mani Getting Death Sentence?
Sibongile Mani, a student, was found guilty of stealing R818 000 designated for disadvantaged pupils and received a five-year jail sentence.
However, she is requesting the court to vacate her sentence or place her under correctional monitoring. We will find out in two weeks whether her application for leave to appeal both her conviction and sentence is granted.
Mani was found guilty of stealing R818 000 after R14 million was put into her account by mistake on June 1, 2017. She was only entitled to R1 400 in food allowance and was accused of neglecting to disclose when R14 million was incorrectly deposited into her account.
Instead, she went on a buying frenzy.
According to news24, she will be eligible for parole after completing one-third of her five-year sentence and might serve the remaining three years under correctional supervision.
In handing down the sentence, East London Regional Court Magistrate Twanette Olivier stated that the court felt that a suspended term was completely improper.
“The only acceptable penalty is straight incarceration, and you are consequently condemned to five years in jail.” According to Olivier, the court took Mani’s status as a first-time offender into account.
In response to the defense’s argument that the court should not end Mani’s promising future. Olivier informed Mani, “You, and alone you, took that decision on 1 June 2017, and you did so repeatedly, for 73 straight days, multiple times every day.”
585 students who relied on NSFAS monies to study at WSU would have been harmed if IntelliMali had not returned the money she spent to WSU, says Oliver.
IntelliMali is a Cape Town-based firm in charge of delivering NSFAS payments to students.
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Sibongile Mani An Alleged NSFAS Thief Funeral and Latest News
The news about Sibongile Mani, an alleged NSFAS thief death sentence, and funeral news is getting over on media. However, the news about her death sentence is a hoax, she was sentenced to five years.
On the other hand, the news about her funeral also appears to be fake as no news about her passing is reported till now.
Sibongile refused to testify about her crimes and denied culpability, although she did acknowledge spending the money.
She further mentioned that the money was “not spent on necessities for survival It was motivated by greed rather than need “.
Mani’s age and health were taken into account by the court, and Magistrate Olivier stated that Mani was an adult when she committed the offense.
The court rejected Mani’s claim that she had no intention of depriving NSFAS of its funds and had no understanding of the terms of her loan arrangement with NSFAS.
Mani was apprehended in May 2018 by the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Unit after IntelliMali initiated a theft investigation.
She was accused of failing to disclose the error and went on a shopping binge, spending over R800 000 in 73 days.
The State claimed that from 1 June, when the money was deposited into her account, until 13 August, when NSFAS discovered the irregularity, she spent an average of R11 000 every day.
However, several people believed that Mani was not suited for jail since she is not a risk to society and prisons are overcrowded.
“The penalty handed down to Sibongile is more akin to a death sentence. Since she has already suffered greatly psychologically and physically in the overcrowded jail cells,” said the president of the F4SD Student Forum, Jacky Nonong.
Did Sibongile Mani Allegedly Died?- What happened?
No, Sibongile Mani is still alive and well. It’s just that she’s now locked up. A bogus headline on social media claims that Sibongile committed suicide, yet there have been no official reports of Sibongile’s death or burial.
We will keep you updated on any developments concerning her health and safety.
She is only a student of accounting and finance at a South African institution, hence she does not have a Wikipedia article. However, following the stolen news, her biography and details are now available online.
She also attended Walter Sisulu University.
Mani stole a large sum of NSFAS’s money dedicated to 585 students. Mani came under suspicion as her lifestyle abruptly changed dramatically.