[imagesource: Twitter / @NicoleGraham031]

At the height of South Africa’s unrest and looting, you could turn on the news at any given point and watch stores being pillaged in real-time.

The chap trying to jam a giant flatscreen TV into the boot of his car won’t be forgotten in a hurry, and neither will the visuals of a South African National Blood Service (SANBS) branch being broken into at the same time President Ramaphosa addressed the nation.

I don’t think anybody has been held to account for either of those incidents, but it’s a different story for Mbuso Moloi, perhaps best known as the ‘Mercedes Woolies looter’.

After vigorously denying that he had stolen goods from a Durban Woolworths, as well as denying that he had actually stepped foot inside the store, a longer video emerged:

Looted a @WOOLWORTHS_SA, made up an elaborate lie about how he found goods outside (also a crime) and didn’t realise there was a longer video. Whoops. https://t.co/yGwvjD3uxs pic.twitter.com/Qvafdli2Iz

— Nicole Graham (@NicoleGraham031) July 14, 2021

Moloi also denied that the Mercedes-Benz he drove off in was his, claiming it was his father’s, but social media sleuths were quick to dig up an Instagram post from the dealership, congratulating him on the purchase.

From that point on, he couldn’t be reached for comment.

TimesLIVE has the latest:

Durban lawyer Mfanafuthi Biyela told TimesLIVE that his client, Mbuso Moloi, handed himself over on Wednesday night after an arrest warrant was issued on Tuesday.

Biyela said his client would appear in the Durban magistrate’s court on Thursday and was facing charges of theft and public violence.

IOL has more, saying Moloi made his first appearance in court:

He was remanded in custody at the Westville Correctional Centre.

The National Prosecuting Authority confirmed Moloi appeared in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Thursday on charges of public violence, theft and trespassing, said NPA KZN spokesperson Natasha Kara…

She said the accused also faces another charge – contravention of the National Road Traffic Regulations 2000 – in which he allegedly operated a motor vehicle on which a number plate is not applicable to such motor vehicle.

The matter was adjourned until August 3 for bail consideration.

He can certainly count himself unlucky, given how few people have been charged in the wake of the looting, but the law is the law.

Perhaps if he had worn a face mask, as required by law, he would have been alright.

[sources:timeslive&iol]