Memory Mutsika was convicted by the Pretoria Specialised
Commercial Crimes Court for 128 counts of theft.
At the time of committing the offence, she was the
treasurer of the Pretoria City Seventh Day Adventist church.
Her responsibilities included transferring tithe and
offering deposited to the church account to the Northern Conference of the
Seventh Day Adventist.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson for
Pretoria, Ms Lumka Mahanjana, said on Wednesday that during the period between
2012 to 2015, Mutsika transferred more than R800 000 of the money received from
the tithe and offerings to her bank account. She said the woman converted the
money for her personal use and that in court, she pleaded guilty to the charges
and asked for a non-custodial sentence to pay the church back the money over
five years.
“However, the State argued that Mutsika always indicated
her willingness to pay back the money and has not paid back a single cent since
March 2022, after she was convicted,” said Ms Mahanjana.
“The magistrate agreed with the State and said Mutsika
showed no remorse, and that she only stopped stealing not because of her
conscious, but because she was caught.
“The church placed her in a position of trust, but she
betrayed that trust. He further said that he viewed Mutsika’s willingness to
pay back the money, as a bargaining tool and as a ticket to keep her out of
prison.” Herald
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