MAGISTRATE DEMANDS ANSWERS ON MISSING ‘DD’ OFFENDERS

MBABANE – Mbabane Magistrate Sifiso Vilakati wants answers on motorists who were not brought to court after they were arrested for drink-driving. This comes after the magistrate noted with concern that three motorists who were arrested for drink-driving in Mbabane did not show up in court for the charges against them. The judicial officer started by questioning the absence of Banele Shabangu, who was not in court when his name was called three times. Procedurally, the name of an accused is called three times to ascertain if he/she is not present inside the courtroom. If he/she does not respond, the Crown applies for a warrant of arrest against the accused. However, there are circumstances where the Crown can apply for the matter to be removed from the court roll.

“What happened to Banele Shabangu because he was arrested and charged for drink-driving? Was he not supposed to be in court today, just like the other motorists who were arrested and charged for the offence?” Vilakati asked. A police officer who was present in court, told the court that Shabangu was out of custody. “Angiyiva lentfo lena (I can’t make sense of this),” Vilakati said, after the Crown had applied for the matter to be removed from the court roll. Vilakati also asked the whereabouts of Senzo Nkosi, who also did not show up when his name was called three times. Vilakati said he would not remove the matter from the court roll, stating that he wanted the duo in court. He said the fact that they were out of custody gave the court the impression that they were given a favour while other motorists were detained in custody. “I am not removing them from the court roll. I want them here. “They are supposed to be here even if they were released on whatever circumstances after being charged. Removing them from the court roll would be unfair to the other motorists, who were charged with the same offence. I want them here,” reiterated Vilakati.

Explanation

Vilakati noted that Dorrington Matiwane was the third person who did not appear in court after being arrested and charged for drink-driving. He said he would keep the charge sheets until he got a full explanation on why the trio was not in court after they were charged for drink-driving. He said he would not turn a blind eye to the matter since other motorists spent the night in custody for the same offence. Nkosi, from South Africa, later showed up and was sentenced to two years imprisonment with an option of a fine of E2 000. It appeared that he recorded 1.53mg/l on the alcoholmeter. “Just like in South Africa, drink-driving is a prosecutable offence in Eswatini,” Vilakati said, while sentencing Nkosi.
At the time this report was compiled at 5:26pm, Shabangu and Matiwane had not shown up in court.

Worth noting is that the motorists dodged court after the police had declared their harsher stance on drink-driving as it is deemed one of the contributing factors to fatal road accidents in the country. When declaring the police’s stance, the National Commissioner of Police Vusi Manoma Masango, said there would be zero tolerance towards those found to be driving on public roads while under the influence of intoxicating substances. Masango went to the extent of saying that drink-drivers would be named and shamed on the media in order to discourage them from committing the offence. Masango further stated that drink-driving cases would no longer be heard in chambers, so that offenders could not avoid publicity.

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