RAPE-ACCUSED LAWYER: ARREST POLITICALLY MOTIVATED

MBABANE – The lawyer who is accused of raping and further impregnating his children has come out to claim that his arrest is politically motivated.

According to the lawyer, the Crown is not really interested in securing a conviction against him on the charges he is facing, but is reacting to the comments he made on social media about the prevailing political situation in the country. It was further his contention that his arrest was not conducted in utmost good faith. “This is a pure government crackdown on its critics, irrespective of whether the criticism is constructive or not,” submitted the lawyer.

Unrest

During the political unrest in the country, the lawyer was one of those who took to social media to make comments that were critical of the government. Meanwhile, several women were reportedly coming out to report their horrific experiences, allegedly at the hands of the attorney. According to the investigator of the cases, Inspector Millicent Dlamini, more charges were likely to be added against the lawyer. The lawyer is alleged to have impregnated his children and forced them to take abortion tablets. Two of the minors and his helper allegedly gave birth to his children. In his replying affidavit, the attorney denied having committed the offences, instead he claimed that the charges against him were fabricated by his enemies and that they were politically driven. “My arrest remains unlawful because according to the prevailing jurisprudence in our country, the proper approach would have been to secure my attendance on summons and amend the charge sheet to accommodate the new charges,” submitted the accused.

He went on to dismiss the allegations by the investigator that several women were coming out to report cases of abuse against him. “It would have been proper if the Crown had filed confirmatory affidavits from the complainants together with the alleged new ones, who are said to be emerging with fresh complaints to verify the assertion by the investigator,” he argued. The accused averred that, in the absence of the confirmatory affidavits from the complainants, all the charges remained unverified and were hearsay evidence.  “May I mention further that in our law, arrest for purposes of investigation remains unlawful and if the reason of my arrest is to investigate me while in detention, then I am in unlawful custody,” contended the accused. He further maintained that he never committed the unlawful acts which were alleged on the charge sheet. In his papers, he informed the court that he intended to plead not guilty when the charges were read to him.

Defence

He said his major defence to all his four charges (one of the initial five charges was withdrawn at the magistrates court) was actus reus, which was a major component of the crimes he had been charged with. Actus reus means an action or conduct which is a constituent element of a crime, as opposed to the mental state of the accused. The lawyer, who is represented by Khumbulani Msibi of Dlamini Kunene Associated, told the court that his children, who were the complainants in the matter, were persuaded by his enemies to act maliciously against him.
“I do state that they have been unduly influenced to fabricate evidence against me and this will be shown during the trial when the matter gets to be heard,” said the accused. He further submitted that he was a law abiding citizen and was fully aware of common law rape and the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence (SODV) Act of 2018 and all its consequences. “I have always known the possible sentences and the deponent (investigator) speaks like she has just given me a lecture on sexual offences for the first time. I am a lawyer and represent people who are charged with sexual offences and I have always known the nature of the offences way before my arrest,” he argued.

The accused went on to tell the court that he was aware that Section 3 of the SODV Act attracted strict liability. However, he said one had to still prove that the actus reus actually happened beyond reasonable doubt, ‘which I deny in the strongest possible terms’. Judge Zonke Magagula, who heard the bail application, on Friday, reserved his judgment after hearing arguments of both parties. The Crown is represented by Bhekiwe Ngwenya from the chamber of the director of public prosecutions (DPP).

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