Thembela sent to jail

MBABANE – Lawyer Thembela Simelane has been sentenced to a total of 31 years impriso-nment for stealing clients’ Motor Vehicle Accident (MVA) claims worth over E800 000.

Former High Court of Swaziland Judge, Justice Mabel Agyemang, who now sits in the Gambia jurisdiction, delivered the sentence on the six counts Simelane was convicted for. She sentenced him to five years for each count, but ordered that the sentences would run concurrently. She further sentenced him to an additional E50 000 payment of a fine on all counts, in default of which he would serve a year in prison. Effectively, Simelane will spend five years in prison, on condition he pays E50 000 fine.

Judge Agyemang arrived in the country on Friday, to deliver sentencing on the case she presided over until July 2, 2010, when she convicted him. She had postponed sentencing after Simelane had undertaken to pay back E686 377.86 to the trustee of the law firm, Bheki G. Simelane and company. Lawyer Lucky Howe is the trustee.

However, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Mumcy Dlamini submitted that Simelane failed to pay the said amount.

Simelane’s attorney, David Manika, from Sigwane and Partners told the court that Simelane could not secure a loan from any financial institution. He submitted a letter of guarantee from a Coal Mining Company which he said had granted Simelane a loan. "I submit that the accused had to resign from ESKOM following the conviction. Such a conviction was made aware to his employer. He again got employed, sometime in December 2010, by SIS Information Technology in South Africa. The reason why payment was not forthcoming is that he had no source of income in December 2011 and January 2011," Manika said.

Manika further submitted that Simelane was committed to comply with the court order, which compelled him to repay the money within six months from July 2, 2010. He said he could not deposit the E25 000 cash because it would not have reflected in the trust account by the time of coming to court. He further explained that Simelane could not come to court on the beginning of the session this year and on subsequent dates, because he was sick. He said a sick note was produced to the DPP as proof.

The DPP Mumcy Dlamini, however, asked the court to reject Simelane’s reasons. She said Simelane defaulted on the conditions of payment he had undertaken. She said he did not give an explanation for his non appearance nor did he explain why payment was not forthcoming.

"He voluntarily resigned from employment. He decided to build a wall of silence and had it not been for this court to call him to appear today, he would not have arrived. This is a mockery of this court. He is not committed to pay," Dlamini said.

The DPP queried the letter of a loan guarantee from the coal mine. She said it was not genuine, because anybody could draft such. She said no steps were taken to authenticate it since it was from another country. She said if it was genuine, it would have been paid by yesterday because modern technology allows swift transfers of money.

Judge Agyemang said in postponing the sentencing in July last year, she had considered Simelane’s punctuality in attending court that he is a lawyer and the criticism he and his family suffered. She said he was ordered to repay the E686 377.86 on terms undertaken by Simelane himself.

"The accused failed to comply with and he did not attend court on the beginning of the session. It seems that not only has he failed to pay, but defaulted the conditions," Agyemang said.

Soon after pronouncement of the sentence, Simelane who clad in a yellow golf shirt, grey blazer and a black pair of trousers, removed his watch and blazer and gave it to his relatives who were present in court.

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