The Bethlehem Commercial Crimes Court in the Free State sentenced former Department of Justice and Constitutional Development employee, Nthabiseng Adeline Motaung (48), to eight years direct imprisonment after she failed to comply with the conditions of her suspended sentence.

Motaung, a former Administration Clerk responsible for Third Party Funds at the Bethlehem Magistrates’ Court, defrauded the department of about R135 000.00 between May 2018 and February 2019 by unlawfully transferring funds into her and her co-accused’s personal bank accounts.

According to the reports following an investigation by the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation Unit in Bloemfontein, she was arrested and appeared before the Bethlehem Commercial Crimes Court on 27 October 2023, where she pleaded guilty to 40 counts of fraud and nine counts of money laundering.

She received an eight-year prison sentence wholly suspended for five years on condition that she repays the stolen money in monthly instalments and complies with other conditions imposed by the court.

After failing to honour the repayment condition, the court found her guilty of contempt of court and ordered that the suspended sentence be enforced, resulting in eight years direct imprisonment.

Free State Head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, Major General Mokgadi Bokaba, has welcomed the enforcement of the suspended sentence. “It is important for those given prescribed leniency to honour the conditions set out by the court. This case is proof that a suspended sentence is not to be taken lightly.”