Mbabane: Former SRNAC General Manager Charles ‘Ace’ Jele will serve a two year suspended sentence on condition that he repays E105 196.94 to the Registrar of the High Court.
Jele had appeared before the court of appeal yesterday, before Chief Justice Bheki Maphalala, Judge Robert Cloete and Judge Benjamin Odoki, who made changes to the initial sentence handed by Principal Judge, Qinisile Mabuza.
Jele had been out on bail pending his appeal since 2018 after Principal Judge Qinisile Mabuza ordered that the E30 000 he had paid be returned to him. The Principal Judge had also ordered that Jele paid back E414 781.78on or before September 31, 2021, as part of the condition of releasing the bail. Jele had admitted before the Principal Judge that he had allocated this said amount of money to himself from the SRNAC coffers.
Changes made by the Supreme Court are to the effect that Jele, out of the 5 years without option of a fine sentenced to him; two years would be suspended for two years on condition that he repays the sum of E105 196.94 to the complainant through the registrar of the High Court.
The Supreme Court further ordered that if by that time he has not paid this amount in full, but a portion of it, his suspended sentence would be in proportion to the amount that the accused has actually paid.
The High Court had directed that if Jele failed to compensate his former employer by the aforementioned date, he should be arrested and placed in custody to serve the suspended two years. In his appeal, Jele had argued that the court erred both in fact and in law by failing to consider that his pension had already been withheld by his former employer as repayments of the monies he misappropriated.
According to Jele, the trial court allegedly misdirected itself to order him to compensate the complainant a sum of E414 781.84. Jele faced four counts of theft involving various sums of money ranging from E13 736.74 to E321 965.10. The offences were committed between 2006 and 2009. Jele was convicted on July 31, 2018.
Jele was represented by Derrick Jele of Robinson Bertram while appearing for the Crown was Principal Crown Counsel Thabo Dlamini from the chamber of the director of public prosecutions.
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