The imprisonment of Sibongile Mani reveals anti-black South African laws and economic systems.
Today, a young black girl who was tempted with R14 million into her bank account by NASFAS has been sentenced to 5 years in jail. Sibongile Mani spent R800,000 of the R14 million. The young student has been labeled a thief, who stole NASFAS money. When Lindiwe Sisulu wrote “Hey Mzansi have you seen Justice?”, the political elite attacked her, including the Beyoncé of the Judiciary, Mr. Raymond Zondo.
Sibongile Mani faced a very difficult moral decision when R14 million appeared in her bank account. She reacted in the manner that most young people would, She went on a spending spree. There have been endless debates on how she should have reported or even returned the money. The question is how many of us dream of winning the Lotto?
Millions of rand in the account of a young black student who probably didn’t have much. What are the chances that her moral compass will kick in?
Government officials, church leaders, and business leaders have completely lost their moral compass, yet Sibongile Mani is expected to exercise high morality, How hypocritical can we be as a society? She is going to prison for 5 years because she doesn’t have the R5 million to cover up her tracks like our number one citizen on the CR17 Bank Statements.
South African youth have been castrated, completely neutralized, and reduced to just hubbly smokers. This is why Sibongile Mani can suffer injustice by being the only one punished for the mistake she did not initiate nor call upon herself.
Government officials have committed extreme crimes, yet they have never sniffed a prison cell. Sibongile Mani is just a soft and easy target. Well, young black women are just soft easy targets in South Africa after all, so there is nothing extraordinary here. Let’s go back to hubbly smoking and try to cope with our miserable lives and hope we are not next in the queue to be targeted by the anti-black justice system.
South African laws, policies, and economy are extremely anti-black. If Sibongile Mani were a white student, she would have received a suspended sentence and community service and probably have been asked to pay the money back in the long run. But because a black child is perceived to be a criminal even before they could open their mouth, Mani is judged to have stolen the money.
A series of mistakes that led to the money deposited into her account, mixed with the temptation that comes with money, has led to this young lady’s imprisonment.
You may think that this is a lesson for other young people and that her bad choices should be called out. It is not the purpose of this article to do what the court has already done.
The purpose of this article was to show you the South African system’s sentiment towards black youth. This sentiment may also explain why the 80% youth unemployment.