24 BAGS OF FERTILISER STOLEN

MBABANE - Two civil servants are accused of stealing 24 bags of fertiliser at Motshane RDA.
RDA stands for Rural Development Area.

Sibusiso Khumalo and Thulasizwe Shabangu made their appearance before Magistrate Sifiso Vilakati at the Mbabane Magistrates Court for continuation of trial yesterday.

Khumalo is employed at the Ministry of Agriculture while Shabangu is employed at Eswatini National Fire and Emergency Services.
Testifying against the duo, Detective Constable Dumisani Dlamini submitted that their investigation led them to Khumalo, who allegedly transported the fertiliser using a State motor vehicle belonging to the Ministry of Agriculture.

He informed the court that their investigation also led them to a certain Shongwe homestead in Motshane where the fertiliser was allegedly kept.
Dlamini told the court that the officers of the law discovered that Khumalo did not have an authority to use the State car which was allegedly used during the commission of the offence.

Authority

“We asked Khumalo if he had an authority to use the car on the day in question and he responded to the negative.
His response resulted in him being charged with using the State car without an authority,” Dlamini told the court.

Khumalo elected to remain silent when given an opportunity to cross-examine Dlamini. However, Shabangu vehemently denied having committed the offence. He told the court that he neither boarded the State car nor was he found at the scene of crime. He told the court that he never even attempted to escape because he knew nothing about the offence.

He claimed that he surrendered himself at the Mbabane Police Station after he was called by Dlamini in relation to the matter.
“You personally called and asked me about stolen fertiliser before you actually advised me to surrender,” Shabangu told Dlamini.

Confirmed

In response, Dlamini partly confirmed what was said by Shabangu.
However, he told the court that to the best of his knowledge, he never called Shabangu.

He stated that Shabangu voluntarily came to the Mbabane Police Station with Khumalo at around 2pm.
The bags were handed in as part of evidence after an inspection in loco.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: