Staff Reporter
A 40-year-old man from Welkom has been sentenced to eight years imprisonment by the Ficksburg Magistrates Court after he pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud and one of theft.
Magistrate Smith sentenced Tsietsi Thato Mofokeng for defrauding Imperani Guest House in Ficksburg and Frontier Hotel in Bethlehem between August and October 2020.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson Phaladi Shuping said in a statement that Mofokeng arrived at Imperani Guest House on August 21, 2020 and introduced himself as Daniel Sebiloane.
“He told the guesthouse manager that he is a newly appointed magistrate at the Ficksburg Magistrates Court and the Department of Justice will pay for his stay at the guesthouse,” said Shuping.
“The guesthouse manager booked him a room for 11 nights and served him and his companion with breakfast, lunch and dinner to a total of R18 383.
“He also borrowed R400 from the restaurant manager promising to pay it back but failed to return the money.”
The court heard that two days later on August 23, he requested the guesthouse to provide a night’s accommodation for his two friends and promised to settle their bill.
Accommodation and breakfast for the two amounted to R1 880.
On 28 August Mofokeng requested the guesthouse to provide a venue, alcohol and other items because he was going to host a farewell party for one of his friends.
The bill for the farewell party amounted to R11 127.
Mofokeng checked out without settling his bill of R31 390.
On October 16, 2020, Mofokeng arrived at the Frontier Hotel in Bethlehem with his girlfriend and introduced himself as Ernest Malakoane.
He told the receptionist he was a senior ANC member from Luthuli House.
Mofokeng said he had been sent urgently to Bethlehem to deal with issues relating to the municipality and the ANC would pay for his stay at the hotel.
He paid for the first night and the hotel provided him with accommodation for two more nights, breakfast, dinner and beverages to a total amount of R9 239.
Mofokeng checked out without settling the bill.
Arguing in aggravation, Chief Prosecutor Sello Matlhoko, on behalf of the newly established Cluster Corruption Prosecution Unit, told the court that Mofokeng has no respect for the law because he has 17 previous convictions which could not discourage him from disobeying the law.
“The accused has 17 previous convictions since 2004 and 11 of them have an element of dishonesty. This is an indication that he is beyond rehabilitation,” said Matlhoko.
“What is sad is that he committed these offences at the time that the hospitality industry was hit hard by COVID-19.
“The offences were not committed out of the blue. They were planned.”
In sentencing Mofokeng, Magistrate Smith said that offences of dishonesty are prevalent in the regional court and the court has a duty to impose sentences that will serve as a deterrent to others.
He subsequently sentenced Mofokeng to six years for the first three counts of fraud.
The counts were taken together for the purposes of sentencing.
Mofokeng was sentenced to two years for the fourth count of fraud and six months for theft.
Magistrate Smith ordered the six months sentence for theft to run concurrently with the sentence of six years.
Effectively, Mofokeng will serve eight years in prison.