WIFE BEATER SHOCKED BY NATIONAL COURT RULING

MBABANE – It seems that even the National Courts have also taken a strong stance against woman bashers.

This after a Lubombo National Court President sentenced a man of KaNgcamphalala in the Lubombo Region to 13 months imprisonment without an option for assaulting his wife.
Ngudumane Sibusiso Shongwe has approached the High Court where he is seeking an order setting aside the sentence imposed by the court president.
He argued that the sentence was harsh and it induced a sense of shock.
Shongwe contended that the court president allegedly did not apply his mind when dealing with his matter.

Disrespectful

He argued that the lower court (national court) failed to consider that his wife was disrespectful and would sometimes insult her and was provocative.
The applicant (Shongwe) further claimed that he had been reliably advised by his brother Bongane, that his wife had deserted their marital home, abandoning their four children to fend for themselves.
He stated that he had four minor children and all of them school going,
“I have been advised that my children have started absenting themselves from school and this is very worrying. 

“Without intending to speculate I have a reason to believe this situation is caused by the absence of an adult to cook, prepare and parent my children.”
Shongwe argued that with each of the minors being on their own, the disintegration and obvious destruction of their lives was getting irreversible.
The applicant pointed out that he was particularly worried that his daughter who is 13 years old now had the burden of cooking and parenting her siblings.

Circumstances

He informed the court that he subscribed to constitutional dictates and he verily believed that the right to freedom must be curtailed on rare circumstances.
He undertook that if admitted to bail he would abide by all bail conditions to be imposed by the High Court.
“I submit that if this application was to take its normal cause, my children would be deprived of more school hours and the danger of being alone without adult supervision will have dire consequences,” he stated.
Judge Sipho Nkosi, who presided over the matter, suspended the sentence imposed by the national court president.

 The judge  suspended the 13 months sentence  for a period of three years and during this operational period Shongwe was warned not to be found to have committed an offence where assault to cause grievously body harm (GBH) would be an element.
Appearing for Shongwe was Lawyer Maxwell Nkambule from Siphofaneni.

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