Victoria Mukundukwa, a 37-year-old mother, worked as a clerk at the Government Garage between January and June 2003, when vehicle replacement parts and equipment used at the garage disappeared from its stores.

In all, parts worth a little over N$98 000 were found to have disappeared when stocktaking was done at the State garage in late June that year.

That was shortly after Mukundukwa had been arrested and charged with theft on June 16 2003, following the discovery of a large hoard of vehicle parts and the sort of equipment used at the Government Garage at her home in Katutura's Golgota Street.

Mukundukwa pleaded not guilty when her trial eventually started before Magistrate Valmary van Rooi in the Windhoek Magistrate's Court in Katutura on January 20 2004.

By October 30 this year, the trial finally entered its home stretch with Magistrate Van Rooi convicting Mukundukwa of theft of goods worth some N$65 465 in total.

Yesterday, Magistrate Van Rooi sentenced Mukundukwa to an effective two years' imprisonment after defence counsel Jan Wessels and Public Prosecutor Arrie Husselmann had addressed her on sentencing.

Wessels told the Magistrate that Mukundukwa, who obtained a three-year diploma in public administration from the Polytechnic of Namibia, was the mother of two children, aged 12 and four.

With her husband - a former Namibia Defence Force member who is now running his own shebeen - working a full day each day, he would not be able to take care of their children alone if she was sent to jail, Wessels told the court.

Because Mukundukwa had no other relatives who could take care of the children in her absence, they would have to be sent to their 75-year-old grandmother in northern Namibia, where they would at least have a roof over their heads, Wessels said.

Mukundukwa's family would suffer irreparable harm if she was sent to prison, he said.

He did not think it would be fair to impose a sentence that would force her two children to be separated from their mother, he added.

While conceding that Mukundukwa had been convicted of a serious offence, Wessels asked the court to consider sentencing her to a fine of N$20 000 and an alternative jail term, of which he suggested part should be suspended.

That was not to be, though.

Prosecutor Husselmann told the court that Mukundukwa did not steal in order to feed herself and her family.

The sole purpose was to enrich herself, he said.

To make matters worse, he said, she was in effect biting the hand that fed her by stealing from her employer.

By stealing from the Government Garage, he added, Mukundukwa was actually stealing from the Namibian people, whose taxes keep that institution going.

Looking at the quantity of the spare parts found at Mukundukwa's house, it appeared that that she was operating a private spare parts business with Government Garage property from her home, Husselmann commented.

The fact that such large losses were suffered by the Government Garage showed that there was poor management and control in place at that institution, Magistrate Van Rooi remarked during the sentencing.

She reminded Mukundukwa that she had been convicted of stealing from a public institution at a time when there was a public outcry over theft from public bodies.

In addition, the theft had been committed over a long period of time, during which Mukundukwa had had plenty of time to reconsider her actions.

The court could not tolerate such actions, not only when it involved Government employees but also people stealing from private employers, the Magistrate said.

She sentenced Mukundukwa to four years' imprisonment, of which two years were suspended for four years on condition that Mukundukwa was not again found guilty of theft committed during that period.

The car parts and other goods found stored at Mukundukwa's house have to be returned to the Government Garage, the Magistrate also ordered.

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