5 WARDERS ACCUSED OF TRYING TO STEAL POTATOES

MBABANE – Two senior officers, together with three juniors from His Majesty’s Correctional Services have been charged for allegedly attempting to steal potatoes at Bhalekane Farm.

The duo of Sergeant/Instructor Clifford Magongo and Sergeant Cedric Mndzebele were charged together with three junior officers, Zanokuhle Dlamini, Wandile Mamba and Sikelela Maseko. All the officers are based at Bhalekane Correctional facility in northern Hhohho.

Initially, seven officers had been charged but charges were later withdrawn against two of them.
It is alleged that on November 30, 2018, the officers were found in the process of stealing potatoes weighing 563 kilogrames belonging to the institution at Bhalekane Farm.

 Intercepted

According to the charge sheet, the officers hid the potatoes for their own benefit and they were intercepted while trying to collect them.
Through this act, the law enforcers are alleged to have contravened Section 44 of the Correctional Services Act No.13 of 2018.
Section 44 of the Act provides as follows: “A Correctional Services officer commits a disciplinary offence if that Correctional officer acts in a manner prejudicial to good order and discipline or likely to bring discredit to the service.’

On Wednesday, the officers filed an urgent application at the High Court where they were seeking an order directing that their disciplinary hearing should proceed before a new Board duly appointed by the commissioner general.

By consent of both parties, it was agreed that the disciplinary hearing against the officers should not proceed before the Board that comprised  Assistant Commissioner Thokozani Mhlanga, Senior Superintendent Bongani Dlamini and Superintendent Robert Nhlengetfwa.

Narrating the events leading to the disciplinary hearing, Sergeant Magongo stated that on November 30, 2018 he was charged with the other applicants, where it was alleged that they attempted to steal potatoes while at Bhalekane Correctional facility.
He informed the court that when the hearing commenced, they were represented by lawyer Sipho Gumedze.

According to Magongo, the prosecution led witnesses in proof of commission of the offence. He asserted that after the prosecution had closed its case, they instructed their attorney to move an application for their discharge in terms of Section 174(4) of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act.  He claimed that this was so because they were of the informed opinion that no case had been made against them.

Prosecution

Section 174(4) provides that: “If at the close of the case for the prosecution the court considers that there is no evidence that the accused committed the offence charged or any offence of which he might be convicted thereon, it may acquit and discharge him.”

Magongo highlighted that when moving the application for the discharge, their lawyer further applied that the Board when handing down its judgment should furnish them with reasons.

Magongo stated that the Board handed down its decision but the chairperson did not give written reasons.
“The chairperson, however, managed to address our attorney advising him that he was giving him ‘emantongomane’. The said ‘emantongomane’ he said were to guide us on how we handle our evidence as according to the Board we had made an admission,” submitted Magongo.

He contended that the implication of what the chairperson said to their lawyer was that, he expected them to admit to having committed the offence despite that they had pleaded not guilty and that there was no evidence that showed that it was them who attempted to steal the potatoes.

Weight

The chairperson, according to Magongo, further instructed their lawyer to forget about the weight of the potatoes forming part of the hearing.
“Our attorney had raised the question of the weight of the potatoes. The charge that we are facing states that; we attempted to steal potatoes that weighed 563kg. The evidence that was tendered was to the effect that, the weight of the potatoes was 140kg,” he argued.

He told the court that the difference was over 120kg which according to them was a huge difference. Magongo said they raised the issue of the weight because; it appeared that no one knew what the weight of the potatoes was.
In another matter, a warder from the same Correctional facility (Bhalekane) recently approached the High Court after he was suspended for allegedly stealing pipes.

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