Remember Bathobile Mlangeni? SHE STROLLED OUT OF MALL OF AFRICA WITH REFUSE BAGS FULL OF MILLIONS!
Bathobile Mlangeni, a former security guard at the Mall of Africa in Midrand, has been convicted of stealing R4 million while on duty.
She was caught on CCTV cameras leaving the cash depot with black plastic bags full of the money. The theft occurred more than two years ago, and Mlangeni went on the run.
Despite her name and photograph appearing in newspapers, the former guard managed to evade the police for more than two years. However, on January 6, 2022, the Gauteng Flying Squad arrested Mlangeni in Zola, Soweto.
Mlangeni was accused of stealing the cash while she was on duty and disappearing with the money. She told the court that she planned the heist with a co-worker named Lisa Galdien.
Mlangeni explained that she and Galdien knew that while on the job, there would be a cash surplus, so they decided to hide some of the cash in a plastic bag. After her shift, Mlangeni fetched the money.
At some point, while she was on the run, her brother called her to tell her to hand herself in, but she decided to give him her share of R2 million and has not seen her brother since then. A day after giving the cash to her brother, Mlangeni was arrested.
Mlangeni was unable to provide information on the whereabouts of the stolen money or her brother. She was caught at 82-year-old Vangille Dlamini’s house in Zola, Soweto, where she had been staying.
Gogo Dlamini stated that she had no idea she was harboring a criminal until the police came knocking at her door. Dlamini was friends with Mlangeni’s grandmother and was happy when she moved in with her.
Dlamini added that Mlangeni did not live a lavish life while staying with her. She explained that the former security guard barely had clothes and would often ask her for R5 or R10 to buy airtime.
The Alexandra Magistrates Court on Wednesday , 08 March 2023, sentenced her to eight (8) years in prison for the theft. None of the stolen money has been recovered to date.
