Mbuso Moloi, known as the Woolworths Looter, has received a sentence of 3 years in prison, but the entire sentence has been suspended for 5 years.
Instead, he will serve 18 months under correctional supervision. He is required to perform 16 hours of community service each month.
Mbuso Moloi who looted a Woolworths store in Glenwood, Durban during the July unrest in 2021 will be sentenced on Friday, 7 July.
A video of Moloi went viral on social media when he was filmed loading a basket of goods into a Mercedes Benz parked across the road from the looted Woolworths food store in Bulwer Road, in Glenwood. He was identified in the video and subsequently arrested and charged with public violence, theft and trespassing.
In his plea, Moloi said that on the day, he and his friend were driving around with the intention of purchasing some items.
“When they drove into Davenport, he noticed that people were emerging from a Woolworths store. At the spur of the moment, he stopped his vehicle and went into that store. He picked up a plastic shopping basket and filled it with a few items. He then left the store without paying and placed the basket in his vehicle before driving off,” said Ramkisson-Kara, adding that Moloi’s explanation for the car licence plates was that he had failed to replace the ‘dealer plates’ with the correct licence plates allocated to the vehicle.
Moloi’s much-anticipated trial finally got under way in the Durban Regional Court on Monday, 27 March, but was adjourned to Wednesday, 29 March. The “Woolies looter” pleaded guilty to theft and contravention of the National Road Traffic Regulation.
His sentencing was then moved to July due to outstanding pre-sentencing reports.
