Kimberley - Shock, disbelief and anger reverberated through the Galeshewe Magistrate’s Court in Kimberley on Wednesday when the case against four suspects accused of abducting five-year-old Keitumetse Magwadibane was scrapped off the court roll.
Keitumetse, who has been missing for 133 days, has still not been found. She disappeared on July 14 this year after going to a tuck shop in Phuthanang with a friend.
Magistrate Andre Williams scrapped the charges against Nora Mazibuko, who is believed to be a sangoma, Joseph Mgobo, Maruping Kwebane and Clerance Khumto after saying that the State had failed to deliver sufficient evidence linking the accused to the crime.
“On October 18, 2016, the investigating officer (IO) testified under oath about the investigations that were conducted and the DNA that needed to be analysed. At that stage, the DNA results were not available and the IO indicated that the State was awaiting instructions from the Director of Public Prosecutions. The defence attorneys objected to a further postponement. Despite the objections, the court granted a final postponement until today,” Williams said, summing up the reasons for his decision.
“The accused are facing a very serious offence. It is also a matter in which the public has great interest. There are rights in the Constitution for every accused person.”
Williams pointed out that as far as he had been told, DNA samples usually took six weeks to three months to be finalised.
“From the statement made by the State prosecutor, it seems that some of the results came back negative and another sample has to be sent to the laboratory for testing.”
Williams pointed out that the accused had been in custody for five months.
“At the time of their arrest, the State was aware that this was a serious case and there was a lot of public interest. It is a balancing act, as the court has to take the rights of the accused into account as well as those of the parents, who are worried about their missing child.
“After five months it seems that the State is not ready to prove what the charges and evidence against the accused are. The accused have the right to a fair and speedy trial and the court cannot grant another postponement. In light of all this, the matter has been scrapped off the roll,” said Williams.
He said that the State had been afforded several opportunities to conclude its investigations.
“The accused were arrested on July 21. They appeared in court the next day facing one charge of kidnapping. At the time, the case was postponed to August for formal bail application but the accused, however, chose on the day to abandon their bail application.
“The matter was then postponed to September 6 for further investigations to be completed.
“It was again postponed for a week to September 18 for further investigations and a decision from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). On that day, the court granted a final postponement to today,” said Williams.
The State, represented by B Pretorius, indicated to the court that there was still no decision from the DPP on whether the matter should be referred.
“There are still investigations that the DPP has requested. The State requests that the accused be remanded in custody until next year. There is one swab taken from the house of accused two (Mazibuko) and we are waiting for these results,” said Pretorius.
Siyabulela Tshuma, defence representative for Mgobo, Kwebane and Khumto, successfully argued that it was not in the interests of justice for the accused to remain in custody for such a lengthy period.
“The matter has been on the roll for almost six months. Since the last appearance of the accused, the State has not made much effort to finalise its investigations.
“The rights of the accused need to be taken into account. It is an injustice to them to be kept in custody until next year, as investigations should have been finalised by this stage.
“The court has indicated that the matter is in the interest of the public, but investigations are still not complete,” said Tshuma.
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