Times Of Swaziland: HOUSEBREAKING CHARGE FOR 3 WOMEN

HOUSEBREAKING CHARGE FOR 3 WOMEN
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 BY SIBUSISO SHANGE on 15/01/2020 04:17:00


MBABANE - Three women have appeared in court charged with housebreaking with
intent to steal and theft.
The trio admitted in court that they used an unidentified object to break into
the house of Futhi Dlamini situated at Elangeni where they allegedly stole items
valued at E14 195.
The trio is Siphesihle Madzinane, Zandile Dlamini and Nomfundo Sihlongonyane.
However, Sihlongonyane was declared a State witness after she was arrested and
charged with the same offence.
It appeared during trial that the trio was known to Futhi, who is a member of
Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF).
Futhi informed the court that she had no idea as to who broke into her house
until she met her sister and niece in court.
Stolen
The stolen items included a refrigerator, television set, microwave, blankets,
nine cases of beer, 15 frozen chickens, sandwich maker, kettle, cooler box and
wall mirror, among other items, all totalling to E14 195.
Futhi told the court that she received a call from Menzi Masango, informing her
about the break-in.
She told the court that Masango suggested that she comes to her house to assess
the damage as the door  had been tampered with.
“I discovered that the main door had been tampered with. Something was used to
open the door instead of the keys.
“I also discovered that the listed items were missing,” Futhi said.
She added that among the stolen items was money in cash amounting to E2 000,
which she claimed was hidden under a gift that had been presented to her.
Futhi positively identified the exhibits as her stolen items. During
cross-examination, Madzinane put it to Futhi that she neither saw nor took E2
000 on the day in question.
She claimed that Futhi, whom she sometimes referred to as aunt (make lomncane)
did not leave her money in her house.
“I put it to you that you don’t even buy food at home,” she alleged.
However, in response, Futhi informed the court that she withdrew money and
purchased tryres before leaving E2 000 in her house.
She reiterated that the money was kept under her present, which was on the wall
unit.
She did not specify what the gift was.
Disputing
Zandile stated that she had nothing to say except for disputing the E2 000. She
put it to Futhi that she did not leave money in her house.
“You know nothing about my life because you do not live at home. You only came
to steal my items on the day in question,” responded Futhi.
The accomplice witness narrated in court how Futhi’s house was broken into.
Sihlongonyane of KaBhekinkhosi, was the second accused person before she was
declared a State witness. Testifying in court, she alleged that Madzinane came
with the keys and invited them to take items from Futhi’s house.
She submitted that upon their arrival  at Futhi’s house, they used a certain 
object to open the locked door.
“We tried and failed until Madzinane managed to open the door. Zandile went to
look for anyone who might disturb us as we removed the items. We started off by
loading the refrigerator into a car,” she said before listing the stolen
items.
Sihlongonyane informed the court that there were certain agreements before the
commission of the offence. She claimed that they agreed that Madzinane would get
the refrigerator, TV set and a blanket.
“We agreed that I would get the kettle, continental pillows, mirror and one
blanket while Zandile would get the 15 chickens. I did not get my share until I
was called by the police,” she submitted.
According to Sihlongonyane, the items were loaded into a motor vehicle.
Passenger
She told the court that the driver was unknown to her but she knew the
passenger, one Nkosinathi Dlamini, whom she claimed was in a relationship with
Madzinane.
She further stated that the items were transported to Nkosinathi’s house at
Ngwenya Village.
During cross-examination, Madzinane put it to Sihlongonyane that they all
tampered with the door before it actually opened. Madzinane told the court that
Sihlongonyane called her concerning her share of the stolen items.
“You called me but I think someone advised you not to take the items,” she
stated. In response, Sihlongonyane refuted that she called Madzinane concerning
the items.
“You called me stating that I should fetch the items before the arrival of the
police. I even told you that I had no transport. I went to the extent of
mentioning that I can only request my brother, who resides at Nkoyoyo, for
transport,” Sihlongonyane submitted.