Staff Reporter
An attempt by the jailed former driver of ANC secretary general Ace Magashule, Ricardo Mettler, to appeal against his conviction and sentence has failed after the Free State High Court dismissed the application.
Mettler, who was Magashule’s driver when he was the premier of the Free State, is serving a 15-year sentence after he was convicted of stealing a Pierneef painting worth R8 million.
Judge Soma Naidoo, in a ruling delivered on her behalf by Judge Joseph Mhlambi on Thursday, concurred with the prosecution which stated that Mettler’s conviction and sentence were fair given the gravity of the matter.
The state also argued that no other court was likely to arrive at a different conclusion.
Advocate Christo Meiring, who appeared for Mettler, argued on Wednesday that there was not sufficient evidence to prove that Mettler stole the painting which belongs to the state.
He put it to the court that it was unclear, from the evidence given, whether the painting had a government barcode when Mettler removed it from Magashule’s office in 2018.
Meiring therefore argued that if the painting did not have a state barcode, Mettler should not have been found guilty of stealing the government property.
The defence also tried to fault Naidoo’s ruling saying some points she made were based on unproven facts and had therefore misdirected herself in arriving at a guilty verdict.
Last month, Naidoo handed Mettler a 15-year prison sentence for theft, 15 years for money laundering, 15 years for fraud and 12 months for perjury.
Counts two and four were ordered to run concurrently.
The money laundering charge came after Mettler tried to offer the painting to a Chinese businessman as a guarantee for loan.
According to the state, Mettler pretended that the painting was donated to him by Magashule, and that it legally belonged to him.
He was also charged for perjury after making a false statement to the police, in which he said Magashule gave him the painting.
However, the court heard that Mettler stole the painting in March 2018 while helping Magashule to vacate the premier’s office.
It emerged that he removed the barcode and covered it with brown paper.
He then offered the painting to Wei-Lun Hsu, for a loan of between R2 million and R3 million.
Hsu placed the painting in the newspapers to see if anyone would claim it.
A senior official from the Department of Public Works recognised the painting and contacted Mettler requesting that he returns it.
Mettler refused and a charge of theft was laid against him.
Mettler is serving an effective 15 years in prison.
It could not be immediately established if he would launch a fresh appeal at the Supreme Court of Appeal.