CROWN APPEALS AGAINST SIPHO BAIL AGAIN

MBABANE – Circus! This is how one can describe the seemingly never ending ups and downs in the case of murder suspect Sipho Shongwe.

The Crown now wants the Supreme Court to review its decision endorsing the High Court’s ruling that Shongwe should be admitted to bail.
The State yesterday filed an urgent application at the Supreme Court where it is seeking an order granting it leave to appeal against the order issued by Judge Sipho Nkosi on September 28, 2018.

This is the second time for the Crown to file a similar application at the Supreme Court.  The initial one was dismissed and the court upheld Judge Nkosi’s judgment that Shongwe should be released.

Charged

Shongwe, who stands charged with the murder of shrewd businessman Victor Gamedze, was admitted to E500 000 bail.
He was ordered to pay E100 000 cash, which he paid but could not gain his liberty because of the pending extradition matter at the Manzini Magistrates Court.

In the fresh application, Principal Crown Counsel Absalom Makhanya, highlighted that Judge Nkosi, having made an order on September 28, 2018 admitting Shongwe to bail, indicated that he would give reasons for the order on October 1, 2018.

“To date, Judge Nkosi has not handed down the reasons and such failure is in the circumstances inexplicable. It leaves the Crown and in fact the prosecuting authority of Eswatini, in the position that it would seek to appeal a judgment without being afforded an opportunity of being able to analyse the reasoning in the judgment, in order to be able to motivate the misdirection committed by the judge and adequately motivate that the judgment should be set aside on appeal,” contended Makhanya.

He averred that an order given without reasons should be treated as an arbitrary decision or a verdict made with no reasoning.  

Lacking

The principal Crown counsel  said, on that basis, the Supreme Court would be free. To regard the order of Judge Nkosi to be wholly lacking in reasoning, and therefore subject to appeal. He submitted that in any event, the Supreme Court would be entitled to reconsider the record as a whole and make up its mind as to whether bail should or should not have been granted.

“The position of the respondent (Shongwe) is that he stands indicted before the High Court of Eswatini, with the most serious offence,” submitted Makhanya.
The principal Crown counsel stated that the indictment showed that Gamedze  was shot at Ezulwini Galp Filling Station, while exiting from the filling station on his way to his car, which was parked in the vicinity.

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