28 Nov 2013

The accused in the Sebele Filling Station armed robbery case has asked the village chief magistrate to exercise the spirit of motherliness over him and grant him bail because he has been languishing in jail since he was arrested early last year.

Joseph Gaie said continuous incarceration was affecting his well-being more so that he was idling in prison; without doing anything for a life while awaiting trial. He said though the magistrate had in the past denied him bail, she should temper justice with mercy because even the cases which were used as a barrier towards obtaining bail had been disposed of.

Gaie said it would be a sad development to see a young life like him being put to waste in prison. He therefore requested Chief Magistrate Linah Oahile-Mokibe to give him a positive response so that he could re-invent his life while outside prison.

However, Chief Magistrate Oahile-Mokibe said the court had already decided on that issue and the best thing was to appeal to the High Court as earlier advised. She said, at the moment, there was nothing she could do.

In the last appearance, Gaie had requested Chief Magistrate Oahile-Mokibe to recuse herself as she was not keen enough to grant him bail, though he had concluded his previous cases, which were used to deny him bail. According to Gaie, ever since he showed up in Mrs Oahile-Mokibe’s court, he had never received a fair deal.

He further said on several occasions, he notified the court that he had eye problems and that he needed reading glasses but never got any assistance until their trial started before it was abruptly halted because another accused absconded.

He therefore said he wanted to be provided with records of the past proceedings and rulings so that he could apply for bail at the High Court and also apply for the recusal of the magistrate.

Gaie was charged alongside Golwelwang Efedile and Bampoloki Kgangphetsa for the robbery of Northend Filling Station at Sebele Centre mall on February 5, 2012 at gun point. The trio reportedly stole some cigarettes, airtime and cash.

The total value of the goods and money stolen equaled P7 000. When the trial that was scheduled to take place for three days from Jan. 21, 2013 started, Efedile did not turn up. This forced prosecutor from the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Mr Kabelo Nkwe, to ask for the adjournment of the trial to a later date.

The trail is now set for three days from Jan 13, 2014. Two weeks after the adjournment of the trail in January this year, Efedile was arrested in Lobatse as a suspect in a robbery that took place in Mmankgodi.

The third accused person, Kgangphetsa, whose car was believed to have been used as a get-away vehicle, is out in bail and he asked the court to release his car back to him because he used it to earn a living. However, Mr Nkwe said the issue of the vehicle has already been dealt with in the past unless the accused was making a fresh application. The prosecution needs it as an exhibit.

Gaie will remain in custody and was joined by Efedile for a different offence. Meanwhile, the prosecution has turned Agisanyang Makopo into an accomplice witness without prejudice to the state to reinstate the charges. Ends