Lauren Beukes
The so-called Woolies looter has avoided jail time.
Instead, he was sentenced to three years in prison, suspended for five years in the Durban Regional Court on Friday.
Mbuso Moloi will also be under correctional supervision for 18 months and has to do community service for 16 hours a month.
He was filmed carrying a basket of goods out of a Durban Woolworths store that was being looted in July 2021.
He had been charged with theft and Contravention of the National Road Traffic Regulation.
A social worker from the Department of Social Development told the court on Friday that direct imprisonment would be too harsh a sentence.
She said the images of him that went viral had added to his punishment and that the accused had become known as the face of the July 2021 looting.
Defence lawyer, Advocate Willie Lombard, argued that the fact that Moloi pleaded guilty shows he had remorse, and since his arrest, had not committed any offence.
The court heard from the defence that what Moloi did was in the spur of the moment, impulsive and not premeditated.
He says the trauma and process the accused has gone through has taken effect.
The prosecution argued that Moloi's offence affected the economy, and businesses like Woolworths had to increase security, which caused a hike in food prices.
