Convict spares girlfriend in elephant tusks case
Lebogang Mosikare | Tuesday June 22, 2021 18:11
Marry Sibanda, will not go to prison for possession of elephant tusk thanks to her boyfriend Ryan Ndlovu, who spared her from possible long-term imprisonment of 10 years or a hefty fine of P50,000 (for possession of any tusk or ivory).
The couple was initially indicted together for illegal possession of two elephant tusks that the state alleged were found in their possession at Tonota on January 27, 2021.
However, the offence took a different twist when Ndlovu exonerated Sibanda from the offence before the facts reading on Tuesday.
Before the facts were read, Ndlovu told the court that Sibanda knew nothing about the ivory, a situation that then led the prosecution to make an application for charges against Sibanda to be withdrawn with prejudice to the state.
Ndlovu unequivocally agreed that he led the police to the lands on the outskirts of Tonota where the police retrieved two elephant tusks from an anthill where he had hidden them (ivories).
Ndlovu and Sibanda also pleaded guilty to entering Botswana using an ungazetted point of entry during an unknown date in 2019.
In mitigation, Ndlovu implored Chief Magistrate Mareledi Dipate to tamper justice with mercy because he did not waste the court’s time and the nation’s resources by pleading not guilty to both offences.
“I was promised P35,000 by the person who gave me the tusks to sell them to prospective buyers. I plead with the court to be lenient with me and in case it fines me, it should pass a fine that I can afford to pay. I promise the court that I will never have any brushes with the law again,” Ndlovu said.
However, Nldovu was reprimanded by Dipate after he pleaded with the court to assist him to get a Botswana passport and workers’ permit so that he can regularise his stay and find work.
Dipate curtly told Ndlovu that what he was asking the court to do for him was not mitigation but something else that is outside the mandate of the court
When mitigating on entering Botswana illegally, Sibanda also pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy.
Sibanda bluntly stated that circumstances back in Zimbabwe are the ones that forced him to enter Botswana illegally.
“When sentencing me, may the court take into account that I left my disabled mother in Zimbabwe who is also taking care of my children,” she said.
Magistrate Dipate subsequently made an order that the couple should be further remanded in custody until their sentence on July 8, 2021.