On Saturday, 14 May 2022, Sibongile Mani was granted leave to appeal her five-year sentence while being denied leave to appeal her conviction for funds amounting to R14 million that were mistakenly paid to her by Intellimali (on behalf of NSFAS) in 2017.
The student was jailed in 2018 after she spent over R800 000 that had been accidentally deposited into her NSFAS student account.
Speaking during a televised interview on the recent judgment Zandisiwe Nopa Nyimbana, who is a member of the Sibongile Mani support group maintains that Mani should not have received a guilty conviction.
She adds that the group holds this view because the process through which the court found her guilty of committing the crime, was flawed in that Intelimali, NSFAS, and WSU have not yet filed the case.
In the process of finding her guilty Intelemali, WSU, and NSFAS hasn't filed the case but we welcome the decision to appeal the sentencing and you are still against the conviction itself.
Nyimbana also goes on to say that, although they acknowledge the serious extent of Mani's actions, she should not be the only one held accountable for it.
She further states that it is suspicious that Intellimali, the service provider who made the accidental deposit still does not know how it happened.
