Jo-Anne Mantladi Mmela (44) has been sentenced to 10 years’ direct imprisonment after being found guilty on four counts of stealing Road Accident Fund (RAF) money. The sentence was handed down by the Middelburg Commercial Crimes Court yesterday (November 20).

Mmela, who previously practised as Mmela and Associates, was appointed to handle an RAF claim on behalf of a child. The claim was processed, and the RAF paid the settlement into her trust account. Instead of transferring the money to the child’s legal guardian, Mmela diverted the funds to another person’s account while claiming the guardian had been paid.

She was arrested in September 2022 after a complaint was lodged. Mmela first appeared in the Middelburg Magistrate’s Court on September 21, 2022, and was released on R25 000 bail. The matter was postponed to December 5, 2022, for further investigation, but she failed to appear and went into hiding.

A public appeal for information was issued in February last year, which led to her being traced and arrested in the Pretoria area. She was kept in custody after several more victims came forward, resulting in three additional theft charges being added to the case.

The Middelburg Commercial Crimes Court found her guilty on all four counts and sentenced her to 10 years’ direct imprisonment.

The Provincial Head of the Hawks in Mpumalanga welcomed the outcome and commended the investigative team and the prosecution for their work in securing the conviction.