Alleged child murder accomplice acquitted Walkers undertake a journey for water
A MAN alleged to have assisted a stepfather in hanging his 4year-old son from a tree is a free man after being acquitted.
Sibonelo Shongwe was found not guilty at the Durban Regional Court on Friday, of the murder of Siyanda Gcabashe.
This was after his attorney, Siphamandla Ngcobo, brought about an application for his discharge under Section 174 of the South African Criminal Procedure Act.
Section 174 provides that if, at the close of the State’s case, the court believes there is no evidence the accused commit- ted the offence, it may return a verdict of not guilty.
The stepfather, Ayanda Mbatha, 23, is serving a life sentence for the hanging of his ex-lover’s child after he pleaded guilty to the murder and kidnapping last March.
Siyanda was found hanged from a tree with shoelaces in a forest in Kipi Town, Nagina, near Mariannhill, in January last year.
In his guilty plea, Mbatha said Shongwe was present at the time and had conspired with him by instructing him (Mbatha) to make the noose on a tree branch using his shoelaces. Shongwe pleaded not guilty to the murder.
Last month Mbatha had a change of heart and decided he was no longer going to continue with his testimony against Shongwe.
He told the court he feared for his life, saying he could be attacked in prison if Shongwe was convicted. After being given a stern talking to by Magistrate Nanette Otto, Mbatha refused to continue with his cross-examination.
In delivering her verdict on Friday, Otto said the court needed to look at the evidence provided, and in this case the only witness was the father who refused to be fully crossexamined.
She ruled that in order for Shongwe to have a fair trial, Mbatha was supposed to have subjected himself to a full and thorough cross-examination, rather than backtracking and stating he feared for his life.
She ruled the evidence of Mbatha be taken as Pro Non Scripto (evidence should be ignored and treated as if it were not written) and found Shongwe not guilty.
Earlier in his application, Ngcobo told the magistrate the state had failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.
He said there was no DNA evidence against Shongwe and that Mbatha was the only witness, and was convicted in the same crime. A GROUP of dynamic young South Africans will join a series of walks this week to drive home an important water conservation and awareness message.
The four-day Journey of Water Campaign was due to start today at the Ukhahlamba World Heritage Site in the Drakensberg at 7am.
Each day it will take the walkers to significant water sources. These include the Springgrove, Midmar and Henley dams, with the final day’s walk ending at the Natal Canoe Club in Pietermaritzburg on Thursday afternoon.
The campaign has been organised by the World Wide Fund for Nature SA and the Department of Water and Sanitation.
Among participants are WWF-SA chief executive, Dr Morné du Plessis, Water and Sanitation deputy minister, Pamela Tshwete, singers Louise Carver, Nomsa Mazwai, Aya Mpama, rapper ProVerb, LeadSA’s Catherine Constantinides and radio personalities Azania Mosaka and Vuyo Ngcukana.
The group, together with experts, will meet communities to hear about their water and sanitation challenges and answer questions on how these can be solved.
Department spokesman, Sputnik Ratau, said it was important for people to understand where water comes from so as to fully appreciate the end point – water coming out of a tap.
“We need to understand that we have to protect and value our water sources such as springs, wells, dams and rivers, and know that polluting them and vandalising our water infrastructure will ultimately lead to these water sources not being able to provide us with water,” said Ratau.
The WWF-SA identified 21 critical water source areas in need of protection.