AT the Scottburgh Magistrate’s Court last Thursday, Magistrate Mzila dealt with a variety of cases ranging from murder to the usual dagga.
Here are a few of the matters addressed:
– A woman appeared on charges of reckless and negligent driving in the Umzinto district. She was denied Legal Aid as she is employed and earns a steady salary. The matter was postponed to March 14 to give her time to get her own legal representative.
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– A man was arrested in Umzinto last Tuesday for remaining in the republic without a valid permit. He made his first appearance in a South African court of law two days after his arrest. He was read his rights, but it was established that the foreigner knew neither English nor isiZulu, even though he opted for his translations to be made in isiZulu, so the matter will stand down until a Chichewa translator is brought to the court.
– The on-going case of the young man who was charged with malicious damage to property in Scott Street early last year is still on the roll. He was last sent to Fort Napier Hospital for a mental evaluation. He appeared in court and was remanded back into police custody as the psychiatric reports from the hospital will only arrive after two weeks. He is to appear again on March 23.
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– A 22-year-old made his first appearance in court for being in the possession of dagga. He was granted Legal Aid and, after it had been established that he was unemployed, not married and lived with his parents, his bail was fixed to R500. He is to reappear on March 23.
– An elderly man made a second court appearance last week on a charge of stealing 62m of copper cables. The matter had previously been stood down because the court could not establish the man’s physical address. He was to direct policemen to his home, but instead misled them to the bush.
He told the court that he did that so the police wouldn’t have to drive out so far to his house in Matabeni. It was later discovered that he had actually been living in the bush as he couldn’t afford to travel back home. He told the court that he used to reside with his mother and the two were living solely of her pension. The man then opted to remain in custody as the living condition there would be better than out in the bush he had shown the police.
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– A young man was arrested for being in the possession of one gram of dagga in Park Rynie last Wednesday. After being granted Legal Aid, he decided to plead guilty. The man is temporarily employed, married and has one child and no previous convictions. The court took note of these points and decided to caution and discharge the man. Before he left the court, he was asked to ‘change for the better’ by the magistrate.
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