A 26-year-old maid who was arrested for stealing clothes and groceries worth about $20 000 from a family in Bulawayo told the court that she wanted to sell the goods and buy medicine for her ailing mother.

Primrose Sharon Makopa told Western Commonage magistrate Mr Lungile Ncube that she stole Ms Euphrasia Siwela’s property so she could sell it and buy her ill mother medicine.

“May the court forgive me, l made a mistake by stealing the property. I just wanted to buy my mother medicine and was going to use some of the money as bus fare to my home in Gokwe,” she said.

The court heard that Makopa stole groceries that included rice, bathing soap, sugar, and clothes that included children’s school uniforms, boys’ tackies and some T-shirts, the total value of the stolen property was $21 500 and goods worth $552 were recovered.

Makopa pleaded guilty to a charge of theft and her matter was stood down as the prosecutor, Ms Samantha Gubede, wanted to check if she has previous convictions.

-Chronicle