In an appeal against a sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment imposed on a first offender convicted of fraud involving over R10.6 million, the accused urged the court to impose a non-custodial sentence. The Supreme Court of Appeal in a September 2025 judgment quoted the following telling remarks from a year-2000 decision in S v Sadler:
“So-called “white-collar” crime has, I regret to have to say, often been visited in South African courts with penalties which are calculated to make the game seem worth the candle. Justification often advanced for such inadequate penalties are the classification of “white-collar” crime as a non-violent crime and its perpetrators (where they are first offenders) as not being truly “criminals” or “prison material” by reason of their ostensibly respectable histories and backgrounds. Empty generisations of that kind are of no help in assessing appropriate sentences for “white-collar” crime. The premise is that prison is only a place for those who commit crimes of violence and that it is not a place for people from “respectable” backgrounds even if their dishonesty has caused substantial loss, was resorted to for no other reason than self-enrichment, and entailed gross breaches of trust. These are heresies. Nothing will be gained by lending credence to them. Quite the contrary. The impression that crime of that kind is not regarded by the courts as seriously beyond the pale and will probably not be visited by rigorous punishment will be fostered and more will be tempted to indulge in it.”
In the 2025 judgment, the court held that imprisonment was the appropriate punishment in view of the seriousness and prevalence of the crime committed. The court said, “corruption and fraud are destroying the fabric of our society and must be counted by effective deterrent punishment, obviously with due regard to the appropriate mitigatory and other factors …”.
The appeal against the 10-year custodial sentence was dismissed.
Moremi Treasure v The State [2025] ZASCA 137 (25 September 2025)