Mfundekelwa Mkhulisi

Mfundekelwa Mkhulisi

An arrested Johannesburg magistrate's court stenographer might be the mastermind behind the theft of dockets in court.

This became apparent when a prosecutor told the court on Friday during the bail application of Ntombiziningi Patricia Sithole that she was being investigated for two other missing dockets.

"She is linked to two other stolen dockets in unrelated matters and they have not been traced, so she should be refused bail," said Blanche van Eeden.

Van Eeden said there was also a possibility that Sithole would intimidate witnesses if granted bail.

She also said unknown people had warned the witnesses, who are not only Sithole's colleagues but her friends as well, to withdraw their statements.

Sithole, 35, was arrested two weeks ago for allegedly stealing five dockets from a prosecutor's desk in court 17 where she is a stenographer.

It is alleged that the prosecutor was consulting a client when Sithole put the dockets in an envelope before she sneaked them out of court.

She allegedly sold them to Lerato Mbali Dasa, 30, a girlfriend of Tshepo Dasa, who is on trial for car theft. Dasa allegedly paid Sithole R10000.

Dasa was arrested in Leondale in Ekurhuleni.

Sithole is out on R3000 bail, while Dasa was released on R5000 bail.