22 Sep 2020

Jwaneng magistrate, Ms Caroline Kataba on September 21 turned down robbery accused, Willie Madie’s plea to have his and fellow accused persons’ charge watered down to common theft.

Appearing for mention along fellow perpetrators, Moses Chominyana, and another who is a minor, Madie argued that the charge they had been slapped with was not commensurate with the property they were alleged to have stolen, being two cellphones valued at P3 000 each and P1 800 cash.

Ms Kataba however, explained to him that robbery did not necessarily mean the use of guns and weapons as he seemed to think, but that obtaining from an individual by use of any force was enough to warrant a crime as robbery.

Madie, who earlier rose to make a retreat on his initial plea of not guilty, also pleaded with the court to make an arrangement for them to meet with the complainant as they wished to negotiate a reconciliation with him.

He also requested the court to strike off Chominyana from the charge sheet as he was not present when the offence was committed.

“The offence was committed by me and the minor as well as one Thabo Olatlheng who was recently murdered. We only met Chominyana when we enquired from him whether he did not know of anyone who might need a cellphone to buy, and we accompanied him to meet the potential client he suggested when we were nabbed,” he said.

However, Ms Kataba said that it was not for the court to arrange reconciliation between an accused person and a complaint. 

“Normally it comes from the good heart of the complainant to suggest reconciliation, not from the accused, and the court can only facilitate that through the prosecution,” she said.

On the issue of exonerating Chominyana from the matter, Ms Kataba indicated that such was up to the prosecution depending on what they unearthed during their investigations. 

She said that a request by an accused to excuse another accused person in a matter did not always mean that the other person was not guilty, but that it might be due to other hidden reason.

“We cannot rule on that request at the moment, but we would rather wait for the presentation of facts before making a decision,” she said.

Ms Kataba also ordered that Madie and the minor be fingerprinted and remanded in custody before their next mention on  October 6. 

The trio is accused of acting jointly with a common purpose, to rob one Kabo Bareng of two cellphones worth P3 000 each as well as P1 800 cash.

According to the charge sheet, they used violence against their victim by stabbing him with a sharp instrument before the robbery. Ends