- The Ermelo Magistrate's Court has sent a man who was paroled last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic back to prison.
- Veli Mashinini was out on parole after he was jailed for stock theft.
- In October, he was once again arrested for stock theft after six sheep carcasses were found in his car.
The saying goes: "If at first you don't succeed, try and try again."
But convicted stock thief Veli Morris Mashinini may want to give up trying after he was sentenced to prison for the same crime just months after being released from incarceration.
Mashinini, 34, is back behind bars this week after the Ermelo Magistrate's Court convicted him of stock theft - while out on parole for having committed the same crime previously.
The man who hails from Thusi Village in Ermelo, was released on parole in 2020 as government tried to alleviate congestion in prisons due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
He was serving an eight-year sentence for stock theft at the time.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Monica Nyuswa said Mashinini was arrested in October last year after police had tried to pull him over on the N2.
When the officers tried to stop the vehicle, he sped away. During the car chase, Mashinini lost control on a sharp curve and crashed his vehicle.
The police found him stuck in the vehicle with six sheep carcasses.
He could not explain how the carcasses got into the vehicle and was arrested.
Mashinini had testified that he was hired to transport the sheep to an abattoir.
Regional prosecutor, Charles Lloyd, led evidence that there was no other person in the vehicle when Mashinini was arrested.
On Tuesday, he was again convicted and sentenced to serve eight years for stock theft.
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