Former State Security Agency (SSA) finance clerk Kgaogelo Bopape, convicted of stealing R170,000, will hear her fate on Monday.

Bopape, 53, appeared on Wednesday in the Pretoria specialised commercial crimes court, where magistrate Ignatius du Preez said he needed time to go through evidence presented to him in court before handing down a sentence.

Bopape pleaded guilty in February to theft and handed in a guilty plea statement.

She was working in the domestic currency division, where some of her responsibilities involved making funds available to members of the agency for operations.

NPA spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said on April 7 2020 Bopape withdrew R500,000 under the pretence that she would make the funds available to members of the SSA for work. However, she kept the funds in a locked safe in her office and later took R170,000 which she used for her own benefit.

Mahanjana said when the finance manager of the division did a spot check audit, he discovered that there was R500,000 missing.

“After internal investigations, an opened packet containing R330,000 was found inside Bopape's office and upon interrogation she eventually admitted to stealing R170,000,” she said. 

The matter was reported to the police and she was arrested on January 26 2021.

The court heard that Bopape intended to make an application for reappointment at the agency after her dismissal.

Taking to the witness box on Wednesday, former SSA director Mahlodi Muofhe said: “That on its own shows the brazenness of how some officials in the agency think that they are still entitled to be reappointed even after having been found guilty in court, let alone that the disciplinary hearing itself came to a conclusion that the accused person should be dismissed. That just shows that people in the agency feel entitled to things.”

Muofhe said if Bopape was remorseful she would not even entertain the idea of trying to get back her job.

“She broke her office oath. I am surprised that she thinks that she must still go back to her job. I'm concerned, it just shows that she believes this process will go through and then she will go back to work,” he said. 

Muofhe said he was alerted to Bopape's conduct by an internal whistle-blower.

Her attorney, Hennie Theron, told the court his client was remorseful and had acted the way she did because of her financial circumstances.

Theron said Bopape had since signed an admission of debt, made a commitment to pay back the money and had already paid R1,000. He said the rest would be recovered from her pension fund if her dismissal was finalised.

Theron said the court should not take any negative inference from Bopape's bid to get back her job as she was only exercising her constitutional right by following every avenue at her disposal to ensure that she was employed because she had a son. 

State advocate Billy Moalosi denied that Bopape was remorseful. He said Bopape, who was aware that she was trusted, knew that there would never be any suspicion if she helped herself to the funds.

“Had this money not been found, would the accused have come out and confessed? Clearly the state had a strong case.”

Moalosi said a lot of planning was involved in the crime. 

“She had to get a colleague to co-sign the money as she didn't have the authority to sign out the money alone. She deceived the colleague and put her career on the line.

“What will society say when they find out that the very same person who stole this amount of money from society has reapplied to be taken back in her position?” he asked.

Theron asked for a lenient sentence but the state called for imprisonment that would send a message not only to the public but to colleagues at the SSA.

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