A 27-year-old woman – who was sentenced to three years in jail for stealing two roll-ons worth R75 – has been given a new lease on life by the high court, which deemed her sentence disproportionate to her crime.
Nomvula Buthelezi, the mother of an 11-year-old, was arrested on July 18 for theft of two deodorants from TFS Wholesalers in Dundee, in northern KwaZulu-Natal.
She appeared at the Dundee Magistrates’ Court on the same day and told the court she intended to plead guilty to the theft and represent herself, admitting that she stole the roll-ons by placing them in her pocket. The prosecutor opposed bail, and the matter was postponed to July 25 for a plea and Buthelezi was remanded in custody.
Her case was eventually heard on July 29, after another postponement because the prosecutor said on July 25 it was already late in the day when the matter was called to court.
After pleading guilty, it was revealed that Buthelezi had three prior criminal convictions of shoplifting, for which she was granted fines and suspended sentences.
Handing down judgment, the magistrate expressed concern that Buthelezi had previous convictions, with the most recent conviction having been handed down on the same day that she was arrested for the theft.
The magistrate was not moved by the reasons Buthelezi advanced during mitigation in which she said she was a single mother of a grade 3 child, that she is an orphan and she was unemployed and dependent on social grants.
The magistrate said if Buthelezi loved her child, she would not be a repeat offender. The matter was referred to the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg for automatic review by Judge MG Chetty.
Chetty set aside the sentence of three years imprisonment imposed by the magistrate.
“The accused is sentenced to a term of 30 days imprisonment suspended for a period of five years provided that the accused is not convicted of theft or any attempt thereto, which is committed during the period of suspension, which sentence is ante dated to 30 July 2024,” reads the judgment delivered on Friday.
Chetty said the sentence imposed by the magistrate was not appropriate and not in accordance with justice.
“It is my view that the magistrate did not consider the child’s best interest when he sentenced the accused as the child’s primary caregiver to a term of direct imprisonment,” said Chetty.
Citing a previous judgment, Chetty said it all comes down to the basic principle that punishment must fit the crime.
“Where the crime is petty theft and the offender’s previous record makes imprisonment rather than an alternative form of punishment imperative, the period must still be in proportion to the nature of the crime.”
