adminTawanda Mangoma in CHIREDZI
MASVINGO Provincial Magistrate Tinashe Lankton Ndokera says only “small fish” were caught following the occupation of sugarcane plantations in the lowveld. The magistrate said this while sentencing another batch of 55 war veterans yesterday who pleaded guilty to the occupation of the plantations.
The State led by Liberty Hove submitted that on May 20 this year, Samuel Moyo and 62 others entered Hippo Valley Northern farm Section two which is gazetted land.
He said the war veterans’ actions were in violation of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act that prohibits “entering any land knowing that or realising that such entry is forbidden.”
The war veterans pleaded guilty and were fined $100 with those failing to pay facing 30 days imprisonment.
The magistrate also set May 30 as the trial date for seven others who pleaded not guilty arguing that they had not participated in the occupations but were rounded up by the police at a bus stop and brought to court.
Yesterday’s court proceedings came a day after Chiredzi magistrate Honest Musiyiwa slapped another group of ex-combatants with $25 fines with defaulters facing 10 days imprisonment.
In his ruling yesterday, magistrate Ndokera said he had taken into consideration that the 55 ex-combatants had no previous criminal record.
Ndokera said the country’s reputation was tainted by the occupation of the sugar estates and the courts cannot condone acts of lawlessness and disorder.
He said their behaviour had negative implications on Tongaat Hullets’s planning and operations.
“Courts don’t impose sentences for revenge but for people to reform. The court also considered that the accused people are rural folks who might have been subject to peer pressure. It was just unfortunate that the nets caught the smaller fish,” said the magistrate.
The war veterans’ lawyer Wellington Muzenda had pleaded for a lesser sentence saying his clients were just ordinary villagers who had little appreciation of the implications of their actions.
He said they had conducted themselves in a non-violent manner as no property was damaged.
No one was injured and business was not disturbed, he added.
“I urge the court to give the accused persons a chance to review their actions whilst out of prison and consider the option of a fine. The average age of the accused persons is 60 and they are first time offenders. A fine would act as a deterrent to their behaviour,” said Muzenda.
Online Reporter