Chronicle Editor
Victoria Falls Reporter
VICTORIA Falls mayor Councillor Somveli Dlamini’s bid for freedom hit a snag after the court dismissed his application for bail pending trial.
Dlamini (53), who is facing fraud charges, appeared before Hwange regional magistrate Mr Collet Ncube.
In denying him bail, Mr Ncube said there was no guarantee that if released, Dlamini would not interfere with evidence. Dlamini, who is a councillor for Ward 9 in Victoria Falls, was arrested last week by a Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) crack team on charges of fraud involving a commercial stand valued at over US$90 000.
He appeared in court on Friday for initial remand during which he made an application for bail pending trial through his lawyer, Mr Givemore Mvhiringi of Mvhiringi and Associates.
In his bail statement, Dlamini said chances of him interfering with witnesses or tampering with evidence were slim since he was not a full-time council employee and as such does not spend most of the time at the local authority offices.
The State led by Mrs Charlene Gorerino opposed bail. In dismissing Dlamini’s plea for bail, Mr Ncube ruled that there was a likelihood of the accused interfering with State witnesses if granted bail.
Mr Ncube said the court noted that there were people who stormed the council offices prior to the mayor’s arrest which prompted Zacc to transfer him to Hwange to avoid interference.
He said the fact that Dlamini was capable of mobilising people to lock up offices was evidence enough that he can tamper with evidence.
“The court’s fears emanate from the fact that Dlamini allegedly locked Town Clerk Mr Ronnie Dube’s office when a group of war veterans and members of the Hwange District Residents Association demanded his ouster on Monday last week on accusations of corruption,” said Mr Ncube.
He said Dlamini was likely to tamper with evidence given that he is the one who kept the keys before Zacc members forced him to open Mr Dube’s office when the drama unfolded.
Prosecuting, Mrs Gorerino said Dlamini misrepresented to Victoria Falls City Council when he purported to be Valentine Munyaradzi Maseko so that he could benefit from a stand despite having benefited before.
According to the council minutes, an applicant must not have benefited before from allocation, purchase or lost stands through repossession.
This is in line with Government directive that a home seeker benefits once in any land scheme.
To circumvent the system, Dlamini allegedly misrepresented and purported to be Valentine Nyoni from whom he bought the stand.
“On 15 August 2022 the accused in his capacity as mayor unlawfully and intentionally made a misrepresentation and purported to be Valentine Munyaradzi Maseko from whom he had in 2003 purchased Stand Number 1139 under the Wood Road Housing Scheme,” said Mrs Gorerino.
The court was told that Dlamini was supposed to pay a deposit of US$25 000. He paid US$10 000 and the balance was supposed to be paid within five days.
After failing to raise the balance, Dlamini paid ZW$7, 5 million through a bank transfer and payment was made during the suspension of Mr Dube. Zacc, which was in the city investigating suspicions of corruption, picked the anomaly leading to Dlamini’s arrest.
The local authority was allegedly prejudiced of US$15 000 and a potential prejudice of US$66 462.
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