This
is an application for bail pending trial in which the applicant seeks to be
admitted to bail on the following conditions:
1.
That he deposits US$50= with the Clerk of Court, Mutoko Magistrates Court.
2.
That he resides at 1620-1st Crescent, Warren Park, Harare.
3.
That he reports on every Friday at VTS Police Station between 6am ...
This
is an application for bail pending trial in which the applicant seeks to be
admitted to bail on the following conditions:
1.
That he deposits US$50= with the Clerk of Court, Mutoko Magistrates Court.
2.
That he resides at 1620-1st Crescent, Warren Park, Harare.
3.
That he reports on every Friday at VTS Police Station between 6am and 6pm.
4.
That he surrenders his passport with the Clerk of Court, Mutoko Magistrates
Court.
5.
That he be ordered not to interfere with any State witnesses.
The
applicant was charged with theft as defined in section 113(1) of the Criminal
Law (Codification and Reform) Act [Chapter 9:23], as read with section
121(2)(a) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act [Chapter 9:23]; it
being alleged that, on the 25th of January 2014, at Wierdabrug
Township, Johannesburg, South Africa, he unlawfully took a motor vehicle, a
Toyota Fortuner, white in color, registration number CV 23ND GP, Engine number
1KD5320331 and chassis number AHTYZ59G908014490, knowing that J.G. Superb Auto
Dealers was entitled to own, possess and control the motor vehicle, and
intending to deprive it permanently of its ownership, possession or control.
According
to the outline of the State case, the applicant is a Malawian national aged
forty years, from Likotima Village, Chief Kapeni, Blantyre, Malawi, and his
address when he is in South Africa is 67 South Road, Regents Park. He has
resided at that address since 1995. It is the State's case that on 29 January
2014, at 1400 hours, the accused arrived at Nyamapanda Border post in
Mudzi. He was coming from South Africa driving the vehicle in
question. He went through immigration procedures, intending to go to
Mozambique. Police at the Border post had received information that the
registration book was not authentic. They obtained information that the vehicle
had been reported stolen on 26 January 2014, at Wierdabrug Police Station in
Johannesburg, under case number 654/01/14. Information was received that the
vehicle's correct registration number was CV 23 ND GP, not CRT 893 L, which had
been presented on the motor vehicle at the Border post. The value of the
vehicle is ZAR357,600=.
The
applicant is denying the allegation of theft of the motor vehicle. He proffered
an explanation for how he came to be in possession of the vehicle. He was hired
by Charles Ogala, who he knew from Malawi, to deliver the vehicle to Malawi,
for payment of ZAR11,000=. He was given a down payment of ZAR5,000=. The
balance would be paid to him on delivery of the vehicle. He drove the vehicle
from Johannesburg, through Beitbridge, to the Nyamapanda Border post. The applicant
contended that Charles Ogala confirmed to the police, in a telecom, that he was
the owner of the vehicle. He tendered a car registration book and an affidavit,
deposed to by one Noel Goves Quta, as proof that his explanation was genuine….,.
The
respondent opposed the admission of the applicant to bail on the basis that he
is likely to abscond if admitted to bail pending trial. The respondent
submitted that the offence that the applicant was charged with is a serious
one, regard being had to the likely penalty on conviction, and that the
applicant would be likely tempted to abscond. The respondent relied on the case
of S v Hudson 1980 (4) SA 145 as authority for this proposition….,.
It
was submitted that the applicant failed to supply the name of the vehicle's new
registered owner. He indicated that he had been authorized to drive the vehicle
in question by a third party who could not be located at the mobile phone number
supplied by the applicant. Such details could exculpate him, and the respondent
submitted that his reluctance to provide viable information is an indication of
his collusion in the theft of the motor vehicle. The respondent relied on the
case of S v Ndlovu 2001 (2) ZLR 261 as authority for this proposition.
