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MBABANE – Magistrate Xolile Nxumalo told an 18-year-old accused person to go and ask his mother who his biological father is.

The magistrate said this before delivering judgment in the case of *Gilbert of Nkwalini Zone 4, who was found guilty of stealing money amounting to E30 000.

Magistrate Nxumalo sentenced the accused person to two years imprisonment with an option to pay a fine of E5 000.

After the sentence, Gilbert’s grandmother, *Sibongile was told by the court that the DNA paternity test conducted had indicated that his surname was not *Matsenjwa.

Adopted

“Let Gilbert use his real surname. Science has proven that he is not a Matsenjwa. The court does not have a problem with him being adopted to be part of the Matsenjwa family, but her mother must give him his real surname. This means you need to make an application if you want to adopt him officially as your own,” said Magistrate Nxumalo.

Sibongile told the court that Gilbert belonged to the Matsenjwa family. She told the court that she could not dispute the fact that his grandson was a thief but accepted him as part of the family.

Before the paternity test was conducted, Sibongile is said to have told the court that when his grandson reached Form I, his father denied paternity but she insisted that the child was hers. She said a paternity test was conducted and it bore negative results.

“The paternity test results came back negative but I still loved him and decided to care of him.’’

In regard to the theft case against her grandson, Sibongile was asked by the Crown to state what she knew.

In her submissions, she told the court that she had been saving money for some time before deciding to buy a car. She said her motor mechanic called to find out if she was ready to pay a deposit for the car.

Hidden

“I then looked for the money as I had hidden it in my house but did not find it. I was the only one who knew about the money and where it was kept,” said Gilbert’s grandson.

She said she then prayed to God to show her where she had kept the money. According to Sibongile, she eventually asked her children if they knew anything about the whereabouts of her money, but they all denied knowledge of it. She said she then kept quiet to the extent that she could not tell even her neighbours since God told her that He would fight for her.

Sibongile said she then went to town on a Monday, where she met one of her daughters, who was off-duty. According to Sibongile, while she was still in town, her daughter told her to ask Gilbert where he got the money to buy expensive clothes without her knowledge.

She revealed before the court that she was no longer sleeping in her house but in another room. She said when she searched the accused’s room she found her wallet.

She said when her grandson was searched, E2 000 was found in his backpack as he came home from school.

She said when she returned from town, those she stayed with informed her that how her money was discovered in Gilbert’s room.

Gilbert admitted to stealing his grandmother’s money. He told the court that he was still a child and, therefore, committed the offence because of peer pressure.

Meanwhile, DNA results showed that the Gilbert is not the biological son of Matsenjwa.

The DNA report presented before court, was made so that the court would make an informed decision on the status of the accused person as per the dictates of the Children Protection and Welfare Act of 2012.

Sibongile revealed that her grandson started bad behaviour after he found out that he was not the biological son to the father who was taking care of him all along.

*His real name is withheld to protect him because he is still in high school.