Durban advocate who stole a bar fridge, kettle, vase, and two lamps convicted for theft

Advocate Mzwandile Rueben Matshoba was charged, after staff noticed the items were missing when he checked out.

Advocate Mzwandile Rueben Matshoba was charged, after staff noticed the items were missing when he checked out.

Published Aug 30, 2021

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DURBAN: A Durban advocate, who helped himself to appliances from the hotel room he was staying at, has been sentenced to a fine of R10 000 or 10 months imprisonment – wholly suspended for five years.

In 2018, Mzwandile Rueben Matshoba checked out of a hotel in Verulam.

According to National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Natasha Kara, when Matshoba checked out, hotel staff noticed that a bar fridge, a kettle, a vase, and two bedside lamps were missing from the room he had stayed in. They phoned him and advised him of the missing items, and he told them to send him the bill to pay for the items.

Kara said Matshoba never paid for the items and the hotel laid a charge against him.

"He appeared in court on summons. The insurance company had settled the owners loss for the items, and Matshoba eventually paid the insurance company an amount of about R5 000," Kara said.

In aggravation of sentence, senior State advocate Yuri Gangai led the evidence of hotel staff and management.

The court sentenced Matshoba to a wholly suspended sentence because he had paid for the stolen items and was a first time offender. Matshoba is a prosecutor at the same court, occupying the rank of regional court prosecutor.

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