Three KwaZulu-Natal men convicted for stealing meat worth R80,000 during the July 2021 unrest have had their sentences slashed in half, after the Pietermaritzburg High Court ruled that the original punishment was too harsh.
Mduduzi Buthelezi, Mandla Ngcobo, and John Thobela were each sentenced to 10 years in prison in August 2023 after being found guilty of theft linked to the widespread looting that resulted in 354 deaths and over 5, 500 people being arrested in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
Sentences reduced from 10 to five years
However, the high court this week reduced their sentences to five years each. It found that the lower court placed too much emphasis on deterrence at the expense of fairness.
The appeal was heard by Acting Judge Mizrachi, with Acting Judge Shapiro concurring. The judges found that while the crime was serious and occurred during a volatile period marked by chaos and destruction, the offenders were first-time criminals who did not deserve the maximum punishment.
“The imposition of a sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment for this offence induces a sense of shock,” wrote Judge Mizrachi.
“A sentence of five years’ imprisonment adequately balances the factors considered in the Zinn triad: the crime, the offender, and the interests of society.”
The case stems from a July 14 2021 incident. The men were stopped by police in Chester with boxes of meat identified as belonging to a local businessman, Mr Luthuli. His storage facility had been looted and torched.
Businessman lost R70m in the incident
Luthuli testified that he lost nearly R70-million during the unrest. This left him financially devastated and forced him to downgrade his lifestyle.
The high court acknowledged the immense loss suffered by Luthuli and the seriousness of the crime. However, it found that the trial court erred by focusing too heavily on sending a message to society rather than individualising the sentences.
The court further ruled that there was no justification for giving the three appellants a harsher sentence than two co-accused who had received five-year terms for the same offence.
