Gun-Negligent Father 'Jumps The Gun'

Lebogang Mosikare | Tuesday October 19, 2021 06:00

The labourer, Sibangelizwe Ncube, 41, had previously only pleaded guilty to the offence of unlawfully entering Botswana in 2001 when he was arraigned in court on September 17, 2021, following the tragic incident that landed him in trouble for leaving a loaded firearm unsecured without any lawful excuse.

Things unravelled for Ncube after one of his two sons from Zimbabwe took the unsecured loaded gun and fatally shot his Motswana half-sister when they were playing in their father’s absence on September 15 at Mogobewabasadi cattle-post.

When Ncube was arraigned in court at the time he denied he recklessly and negligently handled a firearm and had also pleaded not guilty to the last offence of negligence or ill-treatment of children.

However, on Friday Ncube told the court that he was pleading guilty to both the remaining offences.

Inspector Kenneth Edward of Botswana Police Service told the court that although the accused has changed his plea in respect of the remaining charges, it was premature to do so because he has noticed some defects in the facts that he had prepared and as such he wanted the investigations officer to correct some of the shortcomings in the facts.

“With respect to the second charge, the gun has been sent to the forensic laboratory for analysis and we are still awaiting the results,” Edward said.

Magistrate Thapelo Buang further remanded the accused in custody, who will appear in court on November 2 for a status update.