24 Sep 2024

Murder accused, Edwin Ramokweni, will have his case committed to the High Court on October 3.

The committal, initially set for September 23, was moved after it emerged that the accused person had refused to receive the committal documents.

Ramokweni reasoned that his refusal emanated from the fact that the prosecution served him outside the seven days ordered by the court.

“What they did was outside the orders of this court and therefore illegal, hence my refusal to take the documents,” he said.

Chief Magistrate, Mr Daniel Nkau, then ordered the prosecution to serve Ramokweni right there, and then set October 3 for committal.

It is alleged that Ramokweni, a native of Ditshegwane in Kweneng, murdered one Ntukunu Makubate in Block 9, Gaborone in May last year.

Still at the Village Magistrate Court, a trial continued in which, David Molefe of Lekoba ward in Mmathubudukwane and Joel Chivaura of Maipei ward in Mmopane are accused of motor vehicle theft.

The duo is accused of stealing two motor vehicles on separate occasions.

Particulars of the matter are that between August 11 and September 18, 2016 the duo, acting jointly with common purpose, stole a silver Toyota Hilux surf valued at P58 000 at Maruapula Flats in Gaborone. The said vehicle was the property of one Ntongamili Chuchu.

The duo is also said to have again jointly acted to deprive one Lizzy Raditante of her silver Toyota allion valued at P40 000 at Metsimotlhabe between September 16 and 17 the same year. Molefe is also implicated in further similar offences.

A charge sheet before the court indicates that on September 26, 2016, Molefe acted jointly with a common purpose with three other accused persons in Michael Mogome, Kealeboga Gabakgore and Bena Thabane to steal a Honda Fit belonging to Pauline Jonas.

The car, valued at P35 000 was stolen in Mmopane.

Molefe is further implicated in stealing yet another motor vehicle near Mmopane Block 1 between April 2 and 28 in 2016, this time, acting in concert with Mogome and Gonyadiwang Masisi. The vehicle, a silver Honda fit, belonging to Tebatso Ratshosa was valued at P28 000.

Masisi is also charged singularly in a similar offence that occurred at Mmopane Block 1, where he allegedly stole a Toyota Dyna mini-truck belonging to Catherine Ramocha between September 24 and 25, 2016, valued at P59 000.

During the trial for the first two offences, prosecution indicated that they had lined up three police officers from South Africa as witnesses, but due to logistics, the other two, could not make it to Botswana for the first day of trial.

The prosecution then put on the dock Colonel David Lange, a vehicle crime investigation specialist with the South African Motor Vehicle Investigations Unit. Col. Lange indicated that in 2016 while still based at Lehurutshe police station, he received a request from the Serious Crimes Squad in Botswana to verify two vehicles registration numbers that had crossed into South Africa at the Ramotswa border post.

He said data indicated that the two said vehicles were driven by Molefe and Chivaura, who indicated their purpose of visit was a vacation.

Col. Lange however, conceded under cross-examination from Molefe that there was a possibility of wrong entry of a registration numbers into the system as it was done manually.

He said that this was more so that officers at the border did not necessarily go out to physically confirm if the number plate given matched actual one on the vehicle.

Initially, Molefe attempted to challenge an affidavit disposed by Col. Lange as he said its Commissioner of Oaths should have been from Botswana rather than South Africa, a point which Mr Nkau shot down as untrue.

The case continues on October 3, where the prosecution is expected to call the remaining two South African police officers. Ends