SIPHO FIGHTS SA WARRANTS OF ARREST

MBABANE – He is fighting from all angles to prove his innocence.

Murder suspect Sipho Shongwe has now taken the government of the Republic of South Africa to court, seeking to set aside the warrants of arrest that were issued against him in that country.

Shongwe filed the application in the Mpumalanga Division of the High Court of South Africa, functioning as Gauteng Division, Pretoria – Mbombela Circuit Court, on Monday.

The warrants of arrest against Shongwe are in respect of his alleged escape from Barberton Maximum Prison where he was serving two life sentences. A Barberton-based Magistrate, only identified as Mhlanga, has been cited as the first respondent in the matter.
In the Kingdom of Eswatini, Shongwe is fighting for his release on bail after he was arrested in connection with the murder of prominent businessman and football administrator, Victor Gamedze.

In his application to set aside the arrest warrants, Shongwe argued that the magistrate lacked jurisdiction to issue the warrants of arrest.
He is alternatively seeking an order staying the execution of the warrants of arrest pending a decision on the validity of the court order and liberation warrant which led to his release from Barberton Maximum Prison on March 25, 2008.

Shongwe submitted that he was seeking the orders on the following grounds;  magistrate lacked jurisdiction to issue the warrants, the State (Republic of South Africa) failed when making the application for the warrants to the magistrate to disclose material facts, and that there was allegedly no basis for the issuing of the warrants of arrest.

He claimed that there was also no offence or a proper criminal investigation registered against him under case No.156, 10.2017, which case number the warrants of arrest were issued under.
Shongwe submitted that on March 1, 2001, he was convicted of the offence of robbery with aggravating circumstances and sentenced to life imprisonment.

He disclosed that he was then imprisoned at the Barberton Maximum Prison. Shongwe alleged that while held at Barberton Prison, he would engage attorneys to prove his innocence through appeal process and other legal means which were available, including parole process.

According to the murder suspect, during that period, he would sign court documents for the purpose of the above-mentioned process. He highlighted that due to the passage of time, he could not recall each document that he signed and for which process it was exactly intended for.

“My desire to prove my innocence led me to approaching the Constitutional Court. I was advised that my application to the Constitutional Court was dismissed on technical or procedural grounds and not on merits,” submitted Shongwe.

He went on to state that his attorneys advised him that they would pursue the matter at the Court of Appeal. According to Shongwe, on March 25, 2008, while in his prison cell, he was informed by a prison official that the head of section (prison official in charge of the section which he was held in) wanted to see him and as such, he was escorted to his office.

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