JUDGE ON SIPHO BAIL: ANGEKE UPHUME IF YOU ESCAPED

 MBABANE – Judge Sipho Nkosi has made it clear that he will not grant murder suspect Sipho Shongwe bail if it is proven that his release from Barberton Prison was fraudulent.

The judge minced no words when he informed Shongwe that he had to be satisfied first that his release on parole after serving only 10 years of his two life sentences was a genuine mistake on the part of Barberton Maximum Prison personnel.
“I am failing to get how you were released but if it is true that you escaped, this court won’t release you. Nangabe waphuma ngemgunyati lena, kulena inkantolo angeke uphume,” the judge said.

Judge Nkosi mentioned that it boggled the mind how Shongwe was released on parole when he had spent less than 20 years in prison, which could have made him eligible for parole. The Crown submitted that Shongwe escaped from prison in South Africa.

“If you were fraudulently released from Barberton Prison I will not grant you bail, but if they committed a mistake and it was not your fault, then we can go on to discuss the other factors,”said the judge.
Judge Nkosi spoke during Shongwe’s bail hearing yesterday. Shongwe is alleged to have killed popular businessman and football administrator Victor Gamedze.

He is represented by Sipho Mnisi who has instructed South African Advocate Jacobus Lodewicus Coetzee Jansen Van Vuuren.

When Van Vuuren made his submissions, he mentioned that he would deal with points such as that Shongwe would not abscond trial and that there was no likelihood that he would interfere with Crown witnesses if released on bail, and Judge Nkosi cut him short.

The judge made it clear that the case was sensitive and that what set it apart was how Shongwe was released from Barberton Maximum Prison in 2008.
Judge Nkosi directed the advocate to address the court on the suspect’s release, allegedly on parole. The principal investigating officer, Senior Superintendent Sikhumbuzo Fakudze, alleged that Shongwe was released from Barberton prison through a fraudulent warrant of liberation.

Fakudze said it was an untruth that Shongwe was released on parole in 2008. He submitted that Shongwe’s liberation warrant, which resulted in his release on March 9, 2008, was fraudulent.

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