Magistrate dismisses recusal bid
Dolly Bathobakae | Friday January 27, 2017 16:16
Thatayaone Nka who is alleged to have committed a series of rape cases made the application before Principal Magistrate Dumisani Basupi.
The alleged rapist’s modus operandi allegedly involved offering his victims, mostly students, lift and then later on raping them in the bush.
When making a ruling on the application submitted by Nka, Basupi said he and the accused’s mother were not schoolmates but they once attended a short course together in 2006 when Basupi was working for the DPP as a prosecutor before he became a magistrate.
“I don’t see how attending a short court course with the accused’s mother a long time back would influence me to be biased towards him. The allegations raised by the accused are unfounded and baseless. His application is therefore dismissed in its entirety,” said Basupi.
When submitting his reasons for Basupi to recuse himself from the matter, Nka said Basupi knows his mother, a former police officer and prosecutor at the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP), because they (Basupi and Nka’s mother) were once schoolmates.
Secondly, Nka was of the view that Basupi will not be fair to him because he is already presiding over some of his alleged rape cases.
This situation, Nka said, may make Basupi form an opinion that he has a penchant for committing rape cases which state of affairs will be prejudicial to his case.
In the past, Nka who is now on bail, expressed fear for his life while he was still incarcerated saying that other prisoners wanted to rape him.
He requested to be given bail saying that conditions in jail were not conducive for living.
“I have been in jail for almost a month but nothing has changed in this matter. My girlfriend and our child are now threatened with eviction where we are renting. My child is sick and I am also sick. I am wondering why I am denied bail because I have been cooperating with the police,” Nka had said then. The court later granted him bail on condition that he does not interfere with state witnesses and attends court as and when required to do so. Mothusi Meshack from the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) appeared for the state in the matter. Basupi adjourned the matter to February 9 for trial.
Meanwhile, sentencing for a South African man who pleaded guilty to a single count of being unlawfully found in possession of cannabis during the festive season last year has been postponed to February 9.
The police nabbed the South African, Ishmael Ledwaba (38) of Shoshanguve, Pretoria, on December 11, 2016, at Thapama Hotel where he had parked his car.
He had hidden the dagga in various parts of the body of his Renault car before the police arrested him in a sting operation following a tip-off.
Before his sentencing was postponed, Ledwaba once again thanked the government of Botswana for not discriminating against him by denying him medical assistance although he is a foreigner.
Previously, Ledwaba produced a medical card that showed that he was suffering from cancer after he pleaded guilty to the offence.
He said Thursday before Basupi: “I thank the government of Botswana for attending to all my health needs despite the fact that I am a foreigner. I would always be grateful for that help in my life. I once again reiterate that I am very sorry for my actions and would never repeat them again.”