WINDHOEK – A Zambian national 19-year-old Elvis Nyamadzao was fined N$200, alternatively 30 days in prison, after he pleaded guilty to stealing two packets of cheese and onion chips, a two-litre bottle of Coca Cola, a two-litre bottle of Cola and two Budget polonies at Pick n Pay. Nyamadzao told Magistrate Tuvoye Nuule that he stole the food to eat because he was hungry.
He further said that he only went up to Grade 7 and does odd jobs to survive and to support his one-year-old child who lives with her unemployed mother. He begged for mercy from the court and promised to never do it again, saying: “I cannot pay a fine as I was waiting for pay, I will not do it again, I am sorry, if I do not go to jail I will be able to support my child.
State prosecutor, Seredine Jacobs, made her ususual delivery to the court on the escalation of shoplifting and its prevalence in Windhoek and recommended a fine of N$300 of 30 days in jail.
Magistrate Nuule told Nyamadzao that hunger is not a licence to steal, before sentencing him.
By Roland Routh