Thursday 17 May 2018

THREE WAR VETS BREAK INTO HOUSE, STEAL PROPERTY

THREE war veterans from Bulawayo have been arraigned for allegedly breaking into a fellow freedom fighter’s room and stealing property worth more than $1 000.

Casper Sibanda (60), Shadreck Dube (62) and Simon Ngulube (67) are facing unlawful entry and theft charges for breaking into Ms Sinikiwe Siwela (53)’s apartment at Castle Arms Hotel in Richmond suburb.

They pleaded not guilty to the charges before Bulawayo magistrate Ms Sthembiso Ncube who postponed the matter to May 22 for continuation of trial.

Ms Siwela said Sibanda, Dube and Ngulube broke into her house after destroying her padlock while she was in South Africa visiting her son.

“They came into the house and took my bed, plates, lights for the chickens, containers, blankets and clothes,” she said.

Through their lawyer, Ms Taboka Nyathi of Makiya and Partners, the trio said they never broke into the apartment but entered the unlocked room as they had been ordered to do so.
She said the three denied unlawfully entering the premises as Ms Siwela was not at the time entitled to the place due to non-payment of rent.
“They had the authority to use the premises as an office since Ms Siwela unlawfully kept chickens in a dwelling place for people which was against the municipality rules,” Ms Nyathi said.

“The place had no padlock and was unlocked when they occupied it. The alleged stolen property is still at the address where it was abandoned by Ms Siwela and has been kept there since 2017.”
Mr David Maduna who witnessed the incident said Sibanda, Dube and Ngulube did not steal property as alleged by Ms Siwela.

“They came and asked us to assist them in removing the property and we placed it outside the room. I only saw rags and no blankets in the room,” he said.

Prosecuting, Ms Lilian Nkomo alleged that in July last year, the three went to Castle Arms Hotel, broke a padlock and gained entry into Ms Siwela’s apartment where they stole the property worth $1 136. Chronicle

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