NATCOM: NO MORE ‘DD’ CASES IN CHAMBERS

EZULWINI- If you drink and drive, and anticipate your case to be heard in chambers, to avoid the media and the public, forget it.

This is because the National Commissioner (NATCOM) of Police, Vusi Manoma Masango, declared that no case of drink-driving will be heard in chambers. Masango said all drink-drivers will be unmasked and have their pictures published in the newspapers. “No drink-driving case will be dealt with in chambers, because people will keep committing the offence, without being noticed. We have a strategy to arrest, name and shame all drink-drivers through publishing their faces in the media,” he said.

He said this is not because he does not drink alcohol, but because every life matters.   “Many people have died on the roads. We have many orphans in the country and when you look for the cause, you find that drink-driving contributes a lot to the fatal accidents. How many emaSwati should die on the roads because we allow drink-driving. No money can compensate even one lost life,” the NATCOM said.

Escape

Worth noting is that some drink-drivers escape with minor sentences if they had their cases dealt with in magistrates’ chambers.  This normally happens when they are brought before a magistrate, who is not allowed in law to impose the maximum sentence, which stands at E5 000 or five years imprisonment or both. On another note, not for the first time, Masango warned parents to keep a vigilant eye on their children, so that they do not fall into gangsterism, which continues to show its ugly face in communities.  

“Why are we paid if we fail to deal with crime? This country will not be ruled by gangsters. If we fail to deal with crime, we will be asked about it, because it will mean we are failing to do our job. What are we doing as government to ensure that children are not found next to shops in the evening?” he asked. Masango was speaking during the Hhohho Regional Prayer themed ‘United in hope and fellowship in God against crime’ held at Ezulwini Police Post yesterday.

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