The 38-year-old South African woman who was convicted of motor vehicle theft and contravening several sections of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act 29 of 2004 (POCA), was sentenced to an effective 15 years in prison in the Katima Mulilo Regional Court on Wednesday.

Chante Coetzee was convicted on three counts. She was sentenced to a 10 years imprisonment for the first count of motor vehicle theft, while for counts two and three relating to contravention of section 6 and section 4 of POCA, she was sentenced to five years imprisonment for each.

However, regional magistrate Barry Mufana ordered the sentences for counts two and three to run concurrently, reducing the total prison sentence from 20 to 15 years.

There were civil proceedings immediately after conviction and the State asked for a confiscation enquiry to find out whether the accused derived or directly benefited from the unlawful activities of her crimes, which Coetzee did not oppose.

The court granted a confiscation order in favour of the State to the amount of N$480 000, which is the value of the stolen vehicle, in a civil judgement the Prosecutor General may enforce in the High Court in future if the accused does not pay the fine in the upcoming three months.

Kuomboka Car Hire and Rentals has not made an application for compensation to the State and the insurance company has failed to pay the company, citing negligence according to earlier testimonies from Matengu Nkando – the owner of Kuomboka Car Hire.

Coetzee hired a vehicle from Kuomboka Car Hire in Zambezi region between 24 June and 02 July 2024 to tour Namibia, but instead crossed into Zambia with the hired vehicle using ungazetted crossing points, without the vehicle owner’s consent.

The vehicle owner lodged a criminal case of theft at Katima Mulilo, resulting in Coetzee’s arrest in Zambia on 18 October 2024. A court in Zambia approved her extradition to Namibia in late January 2025 to face prosecution.

Earlier this year, Nampa learnt that the hired Toyota GD-6 pickup was reportedly sold in Lusaka, Zambia, before Coetzee’s extradition to Namibia. -Nampa