10 Feb 2014

A South African woman, Thato Letsie, who was on December 20, 2013 arrested for importing controlled drugs into Botswana without approval by the director of health services, will go to court soon for reading of summary of facts.

This came to light at Village Magistrate Court, on February 6, shortly after Letsie, who was not represented, pleaded guilty to the charge and caught the prosecution off guard as it had not prepared the summary of facts.

Letsie was arrested upon arrival at Sir Seretse Khama International Airport (SSKIA) from India on transit to South Africa on December 20, 2013. Police became suspicious of her luggage, searched her and a white substance suspected to be ephedrine was discovered inside the luggage.

The substance was taken to police forensic laboratory for analysis and weighing. Seargeant Modise Masala of Sir SSKIA Police Station, who appeared for the state, said the results confirmed that the drug was ephedrine.

Sgt Masala had since given Letsie a copy of the results document. Letsie remains in custody until the next court appearance because she could not raise money to pay a lawyer.

Another South African, Nazeem Dawood, was also arrested on arrival at the SSKIA on November 17, 2013 and charged for possession of ephedrine.Dawood is out on bail after depositing P5 000 with the court treasury and producing two local surities who deposited P2 500 each.

He was represented by Attorney Friday Leburu. He pleaded guilty to the charge and would appear in court on February 20 for reading of the summary of the case, before mitigation.

In a different matter, Bobo Zebe, who is charged with improper use of public telecommunication System, did not show up for his mention and his next mention was scheduled for March 6.

The 34-year-old Zebe, who is on bail, is alleged to have on August 1, 2013 in Gaborone, without lawful authority, improperly used a public telecommunication system to convey an offensive and menacing message to an employee of Barclays House.

Particulars of the offense are that Zebe told Omphile Masingwaneng, a property administration officer at Barclays House, that there was going to be an explosion between First National Bank building, Poso House and Barclays House, which information was false.

The false information sent government security agents into a wild goose chase; they responded quickly and descended on the area, evacuated employees and combed the buildings with their gadgets and sniffer dogs, but no bomb was found.

During the last mention in December, Zebe asked the court to give him his passport temporarily so that he could take his children to South Africa for two weeks.

He said there was no way he could abscond because his asserts and investments were in Botswana.

However, Magistrate Linah Oahile-Mokibe ruled that he should bring some certificates of the property that he owns before he could be given his passport, which he would have to immediately return after returning to Botswana. ENDS