DON’T GIVE MURDER SUSPECTS BAIL - PUBLIC

MBABANE – Murder suspects should not be granted bail!

This is the general feeling of the public following a story published last Friday, of a suspect who had been charged for murder, granted bail and now wanted in connection with two similar cases. While the basic principle of ‘innocent till proven guilty’ is significant in all criminal cases, incidents where suspects who are out on bail commit more crimes have been on the rise lately. This publication engaged members of the public on their views regarding whether or not murder suspects should be granted bail.

Wrong

Most of those interviewed felt it was wrong for them to be granted bail because they were a threat to the community. Miriam Dlamini said she felt there was a need for the suspects to be rehabilitated. She stated that having them locked up was going to give the suspects time to make better decisions on how to control themselves. Dlamini said the reason murder cases were continuously escalating was because suspects were allowed to go back to society without having paid for their crimes, as some of them ended up not even serving jail time. “They need to feel the pinch of not seeing their families or enjoying freedom,” she added. Sandile Ndzinisa echoed Dlamini’s words, saying the whole bail granting rule was not good especially for murder suspects.

Justice

“Money comes and goes but what about the justice of the person killed? It is not fair for family members to see the same person on the streets,” he said. Menzi Tsabedze said he knew of a ex-suspect who was granted bail and the community felt it was unfair. “It was worse because he had killed someone from the area and came back suddenly,” he said. According to Tsabedze, his experience was that the community distanced itself from the ex-suspect to an extent that they would not even drink with him following the incident that resulted to the murder of the deceased, who he alleged killed after they had a misunderstanding at a drinking spot. Also interviewed was Ida Matsenjwa who said she was of the view that the bail should be granted at least after the suspect had spent some time locked up.

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