Two suspects were sentenced for possession of illegal substance in Court B. On Thursday, 21 July two criminals each received a sentence of two and five years respectively. The first suspect was searched by police and 250 pokes of dagga was found in his possession.
He told police that this was for his own use, but the magistrate, Ms Daleen Venter still sentenced him to two years inprisonment.
He also had a previous conviction in 2011 of drug possession and was given a R1000 fine in Lephalale. The 25-year-old accused confirmed this and also stated that he is a street vendor and generates about R1000 income for his family a month. With this income, he supports his wife and two boys, aged three and seven.
He has been in custody since the arrest on June 21.
The state mentioned that eMalahleni already has a big problem with drugs and substance abuse and that people ‘like this’ are only making the problem worse. They also said that people ‘like these’ are contributing to social evil and it has a negative impact on the community. Also, that the amount of criminals who steal from shops and homes are increasing, just to sustain this habit.
The state agreed that the accused’s personal circumstances must be taken into consideration and it must be put into perspective that he has children to look after. But the crime and drug problem in this city also needs attention. The state added that his previous conviction along with the fine he paid, did not stop him from committing the same crime again. They feel that the only solution will be rehabilitation in a correctional services facility.
The magistrate agreed with the state and she said that although he pleaded guilty and showed remorse, he committed the same crime twice.
“We must take into consideration the 250 pokes of dagga that you had in your possession and the high crime rate in the city. The court has seen almost every day, that these crimes are drug-related. It is busy with a destruction of our youth and as a father of two children, you should have known better. I feel that the community of eMalahleni is crying out to the courts to see the seriousness of this problem and to try and do something about it. The people of our city should be protected against people like you,” Venter told the accused.
Another criminal took the stand and was sentenced to five years inprisonment after he was arrested for 25 units of heroin found in his possession. He has been in custody since July 13 and has six previous convictions.
The first two was for theft whereafter his drug history started. His latest arrest was in December 2015 and was released with a R12 000 fine.
“It seems like since the last time you were in court, you did not learn your lesson and that fine was not enough for you to stop. I believe that only direct imprisonment can rehabilitate you. There is also not one day that passes where I don’t see drug related crimes in this court. I believe that you should be punished,” Venter also said.
Several other accused however, were free to go after the dockets were not in court.
“I can not understand how police officials don’t know that dockets have to be in court. This is very shocking,” Venter concluded.
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