Olwethu Xabanisa
The East London Regional Court will rule on 13 May on the application for leave to appeal by convicted Walter Sisulu University student, Sibongile Mani against her five-year prison sentence.
The 31-year-old was sentenced in March after she was found guilty of theft.
She went on a shopping spree and spent more than R800-thousand of the R14-million that was mistakenly paid into her student account in 2017.
Mani's appeal was argued by her defence lawyer and the state on Friday.
Her defence attorney, Asanda Pakade argued that her sentence was unfair as she was a first offender, that she was a promising student and also the first generation graduate in her family.
He said that she had two children to look after and that another court might come to a different conclusion regarding the sentence.
Pakade argued that the state had failed to establish the elements of the offence.
Meanwhile, State Advocate Luthando Mkoyi said he was confident that another court would come to a different conclusion and called for the appeal to be rejected.
He said Mani's appeal did not meet the criteria required by the higher court for a sentence that was lenient.
