Mbabane – ‘Unmeant’ threats of killing his own sister landed a 50-year-old man in jail.
This comes after Thembi Mokoena of the Mangwaneni area laid a complaint with the police against her brother, Mandla Mokoena, saying he uttered threats that sent chills down her spine as he allegedly talked of killing her then committing suicide. The matter went to court on Thursday before Principal Magistrate Fikile Nhlabatsi, who found the man guilty as per his plea of having threatened his blood relative.
According to the charge sheet, Thembi laid the complaint saying that on Tuesday evening, her brother made disturbing remarks as follows; “Ngeke kuse. Ngiyolala emakhateni, nginetidvumbu letinengi’’ which translates to that both of them might be in the mortuary before dawn. For these utterances, Mandla was arrested and presented to the magistrate for violating section 77 of the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence (SODV) Act of 2018.
When the Principal Magistrate asked Mandla why he uttered the words, he said they were harmless words. He also said he did not think such could land him in jail. Mandla said that they always tease each other with Thembi whenever they meet.
“We always greeted each other every morning but on the day in question, she did not respond when I greeted her. I then uttered the words. I did not mean them,” Mandla said.
Thembi however was not present in court. When the bailiff called her name three times she did not respond. Mandla was found guilty as charged and sentenced to pay a fine of E2000 or face two years imprisonment. However, the sentence was suspended for three years on the condition that he is not convicted of any similar offence.
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