Woolworths looter, Mbuso Moloi, pleaded guilty to a charge of theft on Wednesday, admitting he stole goods from the food chain’s Davenport store during the July 2021 unrest

In his guilty plea before Durban regional court magistrate Melanie de Jager, Moloi said he had “acted on the spur of the moment” and “impulsively”. However, he said, he did not “cause revolt”, nor form a common purpose to cause revolt or damage any property.

His guilty plea came after he changed attorneys. On Wednesday he was represented by advocate Willie Lombard, who read out his statement.

Earlier, prosecutor Vishalan Moodley confirmed the state was withdrawing 16 other charges against him, including one of public violence.

In his written plea, Moloi, 30, who lives in Cowies Hill, said on July 22 2021 he had left home with a friend to buy toilet paper and sanitary pads. He drove to Glenwood Spar, but “it became apparent that the store was inaccessible and the shop had been barricaded”.

In his plea, Moloi said that on the day, he and his friend were driving around with the intention of purchasing some items.

“When they drove into Davenport, he noticed that people were emerging from a Woolworths store. At the spur of the moment, he stopped his vehicle and went into that store. He picked up a plastic shopping basket and filled it with a few items. He then left the store without paying and placed the basket in his vehicle before driving off,” said Ramkisson-Kara, adding that Moloi’s explanation for the car licence plates was that he had failed to replace the ‘dealer plates’ with the correct licence plates allocated to the vehicle.

The car, a Mercedes Benz C300 Coupé, has since been forfeited by the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) of the NPA in KwaZulu-Natal.

“Since the vehicle was under a purchase agreement from a bank, it was handed over to the bank,” concluded Ramkisson-Kara.

The matter was remanded to May 31 for pre-sentencing reports. The court extended his bail in the interim.