Johannesburg - A racist real estate agent has been caught out in a lie. Or if you believe her and her legal team, a conspiracy to vilify her has permeated her criminal case.
Vicki Momberg was found guilty on four counts of crimen injuria after she used the k-word 48 times against police officers trying to assist her after a smash and grab.
While her criminal trial was fraught with accusations from Momberg that the court was conspiring to convict her, last week she accused the probation officers helping to determine her sentence of also being in on the scam.
The defence had requested a pre-sentencing report from the Department of Social Development, presumably hoping they would recommend a light sentence. However, during the interviews with the probation officers assigned to her, Momberg blew up at them and allegedly the social worker, then degraded black people across the board.
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On Friday, the social worker, Takalani Sekoba, took the stand to tell the court that she had felt hugely degraded by Momberg and had to receive counselling after her two sessions interviewing the estate agent.
Last week, Momberg had alleged that despite the argument with Sekoba, she had smoothed over their relationship and all was forgiven. However, on Friday, Sekoba said she had not been in contact with Momberg since she recused herself from the agent’s case.
Momberg’s lawyer, Kevin Lawlor, was adamant the insults had never occurred, and while a report had been filed about Momberg’s alleged verbal abuse, Sekoba never mentioned the majority of them in her testimony.
In a bid to contradict Sekoba’s written and verbal statements, Lawlor submitted a recording by Momberg during the second interview. This was mostly Momberg saying she felt intimidated by the questions asked by the social worker and her supervisor, Daphne Naidoo. One can hear the officers trying to explain the procedure and that it was necessary to ask difficult questions for an accurate report.
Throughout, Momberg said the questioning was traumatising, and that while what she had done “was wrong”, she only used the k-word because she was “overwhelmed”.
In the pre-sentencing report, Naidoo recommended indirect imprisonment for Momberg, meaning she could be imprisoned on weekends for up to 2000 hours.