States Modibati
6 November 2009
A blue cap found at the scene of a crime led to the arrest of two young men who appeared before the Extension Two Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
Keiphemetse Kamanga (18) and Kebafentse Kgotlaesele (19), who are both unemployed, pleaded not guilty to the two counts of housebreaking and stealing from a dwelling house.
The two allegedly broke into the house and stole electrical appliances and various other items.The owner of the house, Martha Moraka, who is an employee of Botswana Insurance Company, told the court how she found her house broken into and ransacked with household items scattered all over the place and others missing. She said the suspects entered the house through a window in the kitchen."When I came home from work, I found my bedroom door wide open," she said. "The room was ransacked, many things were scattered on the floor and my jewellery box was empty. Two phones left charging in my daughter's were also missing."
She then saw a blue cap that was later identified by neighbours as belonging to one of the suspects. Moraka told the court that the two were widely associated with a string of robberies and for terrorising the neighbourhood. "They confessed to the police in Tlokweng that they had broken into my house," she said.
Whereupon Kgotlaesele interjected, saying he had admitted to the offence because of police beatings and challenged the complainant to link him to the crime.
That prompted Senior Magistrate Dlamini Ngandlu to come to the rescue of the complainant: "The state witness has no obligation to prove the offence," the magistrate said. "It is the duty of the prosecution to do that."
Moraka informed the court that the accused were found in possession some of the items missing from her house and that the suspects had confessed to the crime at the Tlokweng Police Station where they described how they had entered the house and stolen.
She said the accused told the police that they had sold some of the items to Zimbabweans who they did not know. Among the remaining items that were produced in court were necklaces, empty bottles of whisky and a black T-shirt.The stolen property was listed in the charge sheet as follows:
But detective Phatshwane of Tlokweng Police Station seemed unsure of her facts when giving evidence as state witness. "I cannot remember if they gained entry through the door or window," she said under cross-examination by the prosecutor.
She told the court the suspects were seen in the vicinity of the house before the crime was committed. She further said Kgotlaesele was found wearing a cap and a T-shirt stolen from the house both of which were exhibited in court.
"You were arrested next to the dumping site while fleeing from the police," she told Kgotlaesele. She then turned to Kamanga: "I found Kamanga at a shebeen in Bontleng (in Gaborone). He was wearing a wristwatch and necklaces belonging to the complainant."
The case will continue on November 20.
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