Arrest warrant issued for NSFAS ‘millionaire’ after failing to appear in court

A warrant of arrest has been issued for theft-accused Sibongile Mani after she failed to appear in court on Friday, without an explanation.

The National Prosecuting Authority said on Monday that a warning had been issued to Mani to appear in court on 25 August, and that failure to do so would result in an arrest.

NPA spokesperson Anelisa Ngcakani said the warrant of arrest, issued on Friday, had been “held over” until 25 August.

“Both Mani and her defence failed to appear in court, therefore a warrant for arrest was issued for Mani, which has been held over to 25 August when she is expected to appear in court,” said Ngcakani.

Explaining how the warrant of arrest would work, Ngcakani said: “She has been instructed to appear in court on 25 August. The warrant of arrest has been delayed until 25 August as she has been instructed to appear in court on that day.

“She will not be arrested between now and 25 August as she has been instructed to appear in court on that date.”

Mani was arrested in May 2018 by the Serious Commercial Crime Unit of the Hawks.

The case of theft was opened by Intelimali – a Cape Town-based company responsible for distributing the NSFAS funds to students.

This is after R14-million was accidentally credited into Mani’s student account by NSFAS on 1 June 2017.

She was only meant to receive her monthly R1,400 meal allowance. She is accused of failing to report the error and embarking on a spending spree, blowing R820,000 in 73 days.

The State charged that, between 1 June, when the money landed in her account, and 13 August, when NSFAS found out about the error, she had spent an average of R11,000 per day.

Intelimali director Roy Jackson had previously testified in court that the error was believed to have been caused by a technical glitch.

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