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MINISTER’S CAR THIEF: MP WILL PAY MY FINE

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 MBABANE – Thabiso Dlamini, the man who stole a vehicle belonging to Minister of Labour and Social Security Makhosi Vilakati, has alleged that his MP has promised to assist him with paying his fine.


Thabiso made this allegation when mitigating on the sentence after he was found guilty of the theft of the motor vehicle by the Mbabane Magistrates Court.
The man of Sitjeni under Lobamba Constituency claimed that his MP, Marwick Khumalo, had promised to assist him with paying the fine so that he could prepare for his grandmother’s funeral.


Interestingly, Khumalo is the MP under Lobamba Lomdzala Constituency while Sitjeni falls under Lobamba Constituency.
“My MP, Marwick Khumalo, has promised to assist me with the fine so that I can prepare for my grandmother, gogo Nkhosi’s funeral. I received information that my grandmother, who was taking care of my twins, had passed on while I was in prison. May the court finalise this matter so that I can inform my MP about the fine,” he said.


Grandmother


Thabiso claimed that he was deeply touched by the death of his grandmother whom he said was everything to him.
He implored the court to consider that he cooperated well with the police during the course of their investigations.


The perpetrator insisted that he did not intend to steal the minister’s car. In his evidence under oath, Thabiso told the court that he unlawfully took the minister’s car because he wanted to fetch his items in Simunye. He informed the court that he intended to return the car to the car wash after fetching his items.
“May the court consider that I sustained serious injuries after I was beaten up by police officers. My hands are still numb since I was assaulted by the police,” he said.


In response to Thabiso’s plea, Senior Magistrate Nonhlanhla Dlamini informed the offender that his fate would be determined by the penalty clause regarding the theft of a motor vehicle.


Sentence


Magistrate Dlamini informed the young man that in reaching the appropriate sentence, the court had to consider the Crown’s evidence, which pointed out that he had an intention to permanently deprive Vilakati of his Mercedes Benz.


 The judicial officer told Thabiso that the court had considered the evidence of Mlungisi Mathonsi, who narrated how the vehicle was stolen from the car wash.
 In his evidence, Mathonsi informed the court that Thabiso took the car keys under the pretence that he would them to the gym. Mathonsi narrated how Thabiso was seen driving the minister’s car out of the garage through a CCTV camera footage.

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