A 42-YEAR-OLD man from Gwanda under Chief Mathe has been sentenced to an effective 12 months in prison over possession of drugs after he appeared for the second time in court before Gwanda magistrate Progress Murandu this week.
Hloniphani Mkwananzi pleaded guilty before he was jailed six months, with another six months previously suspended being added to the current term, making a total of 12 months.
His two accomplices Tiisetse Ngulube (50) from Nkayi under Chief Dakamela and Etsang Mdlongwa (30) from Gwanda were denied bail and were remanded in custody this week.
Prosecutor Mercy Nyathi told the court that on June 13, Mkhwananzi and Ngulube, who are inmates in the A class at Gwanda Prisons, were working without supervision at the Prisons Garden at Hampden Plots in Gwanda.
At around 6pm, the two returned back to Gwanda Prison and upon arrival at the main gate, prison officers who were manning the gate searched a bucket which Mkhwananzi was holding and discovered that it contained 19 sachets of dagga and 4x200ml Ranger cane spirits.
The prison officers confiscated the drugs and alcohol.
The next day, the matter was referred to CID Drugs and Narcotics Gwanda for further management.
The police attended the scene and interviewed the two, who then implicated Mdlongwa as the one who had supplied them with dagga in exchange of four 2kg packets of sugar and three 1kg packets of instant porridge, which were food staffs they got from their relatives who visited them.
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The police escorted the accused to Mdlongwa’s place of residence at Plot 1 Hampden plots.
There, a search was conducted in her room leading to the recovery of some dagga seeds, the packets of sugar and instant porridges, 22 Ranger cane spirits and some empty plastic packages.
Mdlongwa was also arrested.
