51-year-old man steals US$7 259, R10 000 blows it on cleansing ritual

A 51-year-old Bulawayo man has been sentenced to an effective six months in jail for stealing US$7 259 and R10 000 from his employer and using it for a spiritual cleansing ritual.

Bongani Matshazi was initially slapped with a 30-month prison term by Bulawayo magistrate, Mrs Evia Matura, but she suspended 12 months of the sentence on condition that he does not commit a similar offence in five years. Another 12 months were suspended on condition that he restitutes the money stolen.

In passing sentence, the magistrate said theft from an employer is a very serious offence as the employer expects trust from the employee.

“The degree of moral blameworthiness was high and the offender deserves a custodial sentence. Only US$530 was recovered from the sum of US$7 259 and R10 000, which was entrusted to the offender, thus, the offender benefited greatly from the commission of the offence,” said Mrs Matura.

“Furthermore the employee tried to cover up the crime by making a false report that he had been robbed and yet he had diverted the money to pay a traditional healer for cleansing purposes.

“While the court noted that the offender seemed to be a novice in terms of committing crime, he had started from the deeper end and had consequently drowned. He is accordingly sentenced to six months effective imprisonment,” ruled Mrs Matura.

According to the State, Matshazi from Barham Green suburb in Bulawayo, was employed at Zimsend Pvt Ltd as a driver and was tasked with transporting the money to a Plumtree-based supermarket.

Prosecutor, Mr Mehluli Ndlovu, said on February 25 at around 11am, Matshazi phoned the company’s operations manager saying he had been robbed.
“Matshazi reported the matter to Figtree Police Station where upon investigation it was discovered that he was lying,” said Mr Ndlovu.

In his defence, Matshazi told the court that he had intended to use the money to pay a traditional healer to cleanse him of evil spirits.

He claimed that during the ceremony he placed the money in an envelope and gave it to the traditional healer.

Matshazi claimed he developed second thoughts and decided to reverse the deal only to find that the money had mysteriously turned into papers and old bond notes.