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Fairness Moyana in Hwange
A TOTAL of 59 villagers from Lukosi in Hwange District who looted various groceries from a truck that had overturned last month after an accident heaved a sigh of relief after a Hwange magistrate spared them jail.
It was a hive of activity at Hwange Magistrates’ Court last week as the villagers jammed into the courtroom to learn of their fate after being convicted of theft.
The truck and the recovered goods were also brought to court as exhibits.
The 59 were handed sentences that ranged from community service to wholly suspended jail terms when they appeared before provincial magistrate, Mr Ntando Gift Dube.
For the purposes of sentencing Mr Dube placed the offenders into three categories that included the elderly, youth and middle-aged.
“I have placed you into three groups which have six elderly people, youths five and the generality who make up the bigger number. For the six elderly accused persons the court considered your age and felt a custodial sentence would be harsh. You are warned, cautioned and discharged. As for the five youthful offenders the court believes that you are within the stages of reforming and as such takes affirmative measures to ensure that. You are sentenced to four months imprisonment which is wholly suspended on condition you perform 140 hours of community service at Lukosi Hospital and St Mary’s Primary School,” he said.
The rest of the villagers were sentenced to six months wholly suspended on condition they do not commit a similar offence within five years.
“It is not the court’s job to punish people but effect the law under the circumstances. I do agree that these are hard economic times and as your defence counsel indicated you come from an impoverished and drought prone area. The question therefore is – are difficult times a pass for people to be lawless? Where is our humanity when we leave an injured person or disregard police orders not to take the goods? As such I don’t believe that even under economic hardships we can decide to be lawless, to loot is not a justifiable response to the hardships. I warn you that such behaviour can get you into jail,” said Mr Dube.
The court heard that on 8 May at about 2am and near the 320km peg along the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Road in Hwange, a truck loaded with bags of maize meal, rice, snacks, salt and biscuits on its way to Victoria Falls veered off the road and landed on its side.
However, following a police report two traffic officers deployed to attend the scene were shocked to find some villagers already looting the goods.
The police officers failed to contain the looting by villagers as the number continued to grow with some employing ox-drawn carts to ferry the loot.
When police reinforcements arrived later, goods worth more than $15 125.81 were recovered when door-door searches were conducted in nearby villages. An initial 53 villagers were arrested but the number grew as more were later arrested.
Online Reporter