Tombstone thief jailed

Shamiso Dzingire Court Reporter
A Bulawayo man who sold tombstones to residents and later removed them from the graves and modified them for resale, will spend the next three years in jail. A Western Commonage magistrate convicted Gift Sibanda of Magwegwe suburb on May 3, 2010 of four counts of violating a grave and sentenced him to four years in jail. One year of the sentence was suspended for five years on good behaviour.

Sibanda, who had pleaded not guilty to all charges, appealed against his conviction and sentence at the High Court and was granted $50 bail on May 27, 2010 pending appeal. However, the High Court deemed his appeal abandoned after he failed to pay for costs of preparations of the record in terms of rule 22 (2) of the Supreme Court (Magistrates Courts) (Criminal Appeals) Rules of 1999.

He was arrested recently after the courts issued a warrant for his arrest. On Friday, magistrate Tancy Dube ruled that Sibanda should begin serving the effective three-year jail term. The prosecutor Tendai Binha said on July 26, 2009, Barbara Beziah Banda went to Hyde Park Cemetery to check on the grave of her late father Bizwick Banda when she found the tombstone missing.

“Barbara instituted her own investigations and found the tombstone, which had already been grinded and similar in shape to one which had been stolen, at Sibanda’s work place,” he said. Binha said Barbara filed a report at the Western Commonage Police Station.

During investigations, the court heard, a search was carried out at Sibanda’s residence leading to the recovery of three more tombstones inscribed the names of Senzo Matshazi, Tungayi Kayiya and B.G. Ngubo. The court heard how Sibanda failed to satisfactorily account for the tombstones.

“Responding to a press release issued by the police, Olley Matshazi, Nathan Clayton Kayiya and Sibonginkosi Geraldine Jongwe proceeded to the police station where they positively identified the tombstones which belonged to their fathers,” Binha said. The recovered tombstones were returned to the respective families.