I N TH E HIG H COUR T O F SWAZILAN D RE X
V s
THULAN I SIPH O MKHABEL A Crimina l Cas e No.71/200 6
Cora m S.B. MAPHALAL A - J Fo r the Crow n MR . B . MAGAGUL A Fo r the Defence MR . B . SIMELAN E
REASON S FO R SENTENC E
8 t h March 2007
[1] Th e accused perso n tendere d a plea of guilty in respec t of the lesser offence of culpable homicid e wher e he has been indicte d for the crime of
murder , wher e it is allege d by the Crow n that upo n or about 23 r Septembe r 2005 , and at or nea r Msind a
Crow n accepted the ple a and read into the record a statement of agreed facts by th e parties. Th e pos t morte m report in this matte r wa s further entered by
consen t as exhibit "A" . Th e court then proceede d to convict the accused on
the strength of his ow n plea and what is reflected in the statement of agreed facts. Th e said statemen t rea
1. Upon or about 23 r d September 2005 and at or near Msinda area in the district of Manzini th e accused did unlawf
2. Accused pleads guilty of culpable homicide and the plea is accepted by the
Crown.
3. Accused accepts that the deceased died as a direct consequence of his conduct and that there is no intervening cause of death between his (accused) conduct and the death of the deceased.
4. Deceased died due to "haemorrhage as (a) result of penetrating injury to the
heart" as stated in the post mortem examination report and the injury was inflicted upon the deceased by the accused with a knife.
5. The report on post mortem examination on the body of the deceased be submitted to form part of the evidence.
6. On the fateful day, in the evening, the accused was in the company of PW1 , PW2 and PW3 enroute to a neighbouring homestead at Msinda area to attend a
traditional wedding (umtsimba). They were walking along the gravel road.
6.1 Whilst walking a car approached with its lights brightly lit and it stopped in front of the group with the lights still on. A man whom the group
suspected alighted from the car approached them and demanded to have a word with the accused. As h the deceased whom they all knew.
6.2 There had been a long standing feud between the accused and the deceased prior to this day and on several occasions the two had
manhandled one another. The other three stepped aside as the deceased was approaching and coming accused. The deceased held one arm behind his back and they did not
see what he was carrying. The two immediately manhandled one another and in the process the accused produced a knife and stabbed the deceased once on the chest. The other three fled, leaving the fighting duo alone.
6.3 After stabbing the deceased, the accused just left him lying on the ground and did nothing to assist notwithstanding that by then it was just the two
of them. On the next morning when asked about deceased whereabouts,the accused said he did not kn be seen with him.
6.4 Deceased was subsequently discovered dead the next day by a passerby and the police were called. The accused was eventually apprehended and arrested by the police on the 24 t h September 2005 and has been in custody ever since.
7. Accused accepts that his conduct was unlawful and is remorseful.
[2] In mitigation of sentenc e it wa s submitted for th e accuse d perso n as follows: (i) that whe n he wa s arrested he was 21year s old bu t that no w he is
23year s old; (ii) that he is a first offender and has bee n in custod y since the
24 t h Septembe r 2005 . (iii) that the deceased on the facts wa s the caus e of all thes e problem s as he is th e one wh o started the fight.
[3] At this stage th e court is to mete out a prope r sentenc e in the circumstances . Th e court is to consider firstly, the interest of society, secondly , the nature of the offence and thirdly, th e interest of the accused as
decide d in the often cited case of 5 vs Zinn 1969 S.A. 537 (A). The accuse d before court is a first offender a
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old whe n th e incident too k place . He has appeale d to the court for leniency an d that the decease d wa s the caus e of all these problems .
[4] I mus t say ther e are far to o man y cases before the court thes e days wher e peopl e resort to knive s t provocation . We are becomin g a ver y violent society.
[5] On the facts of the presen t case I find that the accused wa s put in a corne r b y the decease d wh o wa s the aggressor.
[6] In the circumstance s of this case the accuse d perso n is sentence d to seve n (7) years imprisonme perio d of three (3) year s on conditio n that accuse d is not convicte d of an
offence in whic h violenc e is an element committe d during the perio d of suspension . Th e sentenc e i s backdate d t o the 24 t h Septembe r 2005 .
JUDG E