22/11/2025
FORMER ATTORNEY SENTENCED TO TEN YEARS FOR STEALING CLIENTS' R4 MILLION RAF PAYOUTS
The Mpumalanga Specialised Commercial Crimes Court sitting in Middelburg has today sentenced former attorney, Mantladi Jo-Anne Mmela (43), to ten years’ direct imprisonment for the theft of over R4.1 million from an attorney’s trust account.
Mmela was convicted on four counts of theft committed between June 2019 and March 2022 while practising as a sole practitioner at Mmela Attorneys. She had lodged Road Accident Fund (RAF) claims on behalf of her clients, and the payouts were deposited into the trust account of Mmela Incorporated Attorneys for the benefit of the claimants. However, she failed to pay the funds over to her clients as required.
The matter came to light when one of the victims reported that Mmela had failed to pay out their RAF claim. A subsequent investigation led to her arrest in 2022. She was granted bail but later absconded, prompting the issuance of a warrant of arrest. Mmela was re-arrested in February 2024 and has remained in custody since. During the trial, she pleaded not guilty; however, Senior State Advocate Henry Nxumalo presented compelling evidence that substantiated the allegations against her.
Mmela was convicted on four counts of theft and sentenced as follows:
Count 1: 10 years' imprisonment
Count 2: 10 years' imprisonment
Count 3: 4 years' imprisonment
Count 4: 6 years' imprisonment
The court ordered that the sentences on Counts 2, 3, and 4 run concurrently with the sentence on Count 1, resulting in an effective sentence of 10 years’ direct imprisonment.
