STATE OPPOSING BACEDE’S

MBABANE – The State is opposing Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza’s appeal.On August 12, 2024, the former Member of Parliament (MP) filed an appeal, where he raised 31 grounds, detailing why he felt Judge Mumcy Dlamini was purportedly wrong in coming to her conclusion, which resulted in him being sentenced.

Mabuza and his then co-accused, Mthandeni Dube, were sentenced to prison terms of 25 and 18 years, respectively. In the appeal, Mabuza averred that the sentence that was imposed on him induced a sense of shock. The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has since filed a notice of intention to oppose the appeal, which is pending in the Supreme Court. The prosecution is yet to file comprehensive papers outlining why the apex court should not tamper with the sentence that was imposed by the trial court.

Appeal

In the appeal, Mabuza submitted that the court failed to take into account that he was a first-time offender and that he did not actively take part in the damage that was caused or in causing the death of any person.As part of his grounds of appeal, the former legislator contended that the court erred in finding that he committed terrorist acts in making political speeches, more particularly on June 24, 2021 at Summerfield, which constituted the contravention of the Suppression of Terrorism Act, 2008 and the Sedition and Subversive Activities Act, 2008.
He further argued that the lengthy sentence that was imposed by Judge Dlamini was of a grave nature, degree and seriousness.

This, according to the former MP, indicated that, directly or inferentially, the court did not exercise its discretion at all. He is of the view that Judge Dlamini’s decision on the sentence was vitiated by misdirection. He went on to argue that no evidence was presented by the Crown that any of the protesters who participated in the marches did so as a result of what he said in his political speeches, more particularly at Summerfield on June 24, 2021.  Mabuza submitted that in his view, the court erred in rejecting this evidence, more particularly with regard to his explanation tendered in respect of the political speeches and in respect of what transpired on June 21, 2021 during a caucus meeting in Parliament. He highlighted that his conviction in respect of count 1 and the alternative counts thereto, as well as counts 2 and 3 (murder of Siphosethu Mtshali and Thando Shongwe), were bad in law.  

Judge Dlamini, when sentencing the pair, said Mabuza and Dube were convicted of murder with dolus eventualis and not dolus directus.Dolus eventualis is premised on the perpetrator foreseeing the possibility of harm and reconciling with that foreseen possibility.  The judge said she considered that as an extenuating circumstance (reduces blameworthiness) in both counts of murder. Mabuza and Dube were facing, among others, two counts of murder, for which they were found guilty, after two men, Shongwe and Mtshali, were run over by a motor vehicle at Nkwalini, Mbabane during the civil unrest in 2021.The judge sentenced Mabuza to 15 years for the murder of Mtshali and the same number of years for that of Shongwe. Dube, on the other hand, was sentenced to 10 years for the murder of each of the two deceased persons.  

Guilty

For the main charge of contravening the Suppression of Terrorism Act, 2008, in that they were found guilty of inciting members of the public to overthrow the legitimate government, Mabuza was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment without an option of a fine. Dube, on the other hand, was sentenced to 18 years behind bars with no option of a fine. This charge had two alternative charges. On each of the two alternative charges, Mabuza was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment without an option of a fine. Dube was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment without an option of a fine on both alternative charges.In total, Mabuza was sentenced to 85 years behind bars, while Dube’s cumulative sentence was 58 years imprisonment. The judge backdated the sentences to the date of their arrest, which is July 26, 2021. The appeal is still pending in the Supreme Court and appearing for the former MPs is Lawyer Ben J. Simelane of Ben J. Simelane and Associates.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: