A MAGISTRATE in Bulawayo burst out laughing when witnesses
who had been called by two men accused of housebreaking to testify on their
behalf told the court they saw the accused committing the crime.
Raymond Mthombeni (41) and Zororai Nhongo (32) allegedly
broke into Ms Simangele Moyo’s (51) home in Emthunzini suburb and stole three
20 litre buckets of paint, a solar inverter, clothes, a handbag and a car
battery valued at $2 919.
They pleaded not guilty to unlawful entry and theft before
Western Commonage magistrate Ms Tancy Dube who remanded them in custody for
sentencing.
Mthombeni and Nhongo appeared surprised and at one point
looked like they were on the verge of collapse when two witnesses including
their friend named ‘SaMandie’ told the court that they were the culprits.
“There is nothing much that I can say except that I saw
these two people carrying buckets of paint and I asked them if they were
selling it,” said SaMandie.
Mthombeni and Nhongo tried in vain to sway the witnesses
whose testimonies continued to weaken their case.
The magistrate ended up laughing and told the two that they
had made a mistake calling witnesses who would not rescue them.
“You made a blunder calling your witnesses who will drown
you instead of rescuing you. If I were you, I would be clever. I would say I
have no further questions because he is the one who saw you breaking into that
house. Don’t act like you are crazy wasting our time here, come on Monday for
judgment,” said the magistrate.
However, Mthombeni said his friend turned against him in
court because he had been bribed.
“SaMandie connived with police to turn against us, how can
he betray us. Actually, he is the one who sold me buckets of paint, he should
be the one in the dock,” he shouted.
The State, represented by Mr Tapiwa Solani, said the
incident occurred on August 10 this year at around 9PM.
“While the complainant was away in Hwange, the accused
persons used unknown objects to break the main French door to gain entry into
the house and stole two Puma blankets, three 20 litre buckets of paramount
paint, clothes, inverter, battery and a handbag,” he said.
Mr Solani said Mthombeni and Nhongo were seen by Ms Moyo’s
neighbour and passersby loading the loot into their vehicle.
The matter was reported to the police leading to their
arrest.The total value of goods stolen was $2 910 and nothing was recovered. Chronicle
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