Slap on wrist for drug dealer
'Courts should impose sentences that not only deter individuals, but had a general deterrent effect'
A DRUG dealer charged with possession of dangerous and highly addictive drugs, believed to be ‘cat’, ephedrine and cocaine with a street value of R63 000, was fined R2 000 in the Richards Bay District Court on Wednesday.
Zanele Mthethwa was arrested by the Organised Crime Investigation Unit (OCIU) and Empangeni Crime Intelligence Gathering (CIG) in July while loitering near a Central Business District hotel, following a tip-off that he was selling drugs in the vicinity.
According to police he was found in possession of two packets suspected to be ‘cat’ on his person and more substances, provisionally identified as ‘cat’, ephedrine and cocaine were discovered in a nearby flat which he shared with his girlfriend.
The complex is mainly being occupied by students and according to intelligence gathered, Mthethwa was tasked with selling drugs to students by a Nigerian drug lord, who also paid his rent.
Mthethwa appeared in the Richards Bay District Court where his bail was refused because he was regarded as a flight risk.
The case was remanded to Wednesday, as the state was still awaiting the forensic analysis reports, prior to arranging a trial date.
Mthethwa however, who elected to appoint his own lawyer, pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to a R 2000 fine by presiding officer, Magistrate Chirva.
Investigating officer W/O Ryno Louw was reportedly unaware that the State intended to accept a guilty plea and was not called to testify in aggravation of sentence.
The matter was expected to be transferred to the Regional Court following the completion of the investigation owing to the high value of the confiscated narcotics and the expected penalties the offence carries in case of a conviction.
Shock
Police and the public expressed shock about the sentence, which comes in the wake of the Supreme Court of Appeal upholding a 10-year jail sentence for convicted drug dealer Francis Ojidwagu, passed in the Mtubatuba Magistrate’s Court.
Ojideagu was trapped in St Lucia in February 2011 in an undercover operation authorised by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Magistrate Badenhorst suspended three years of the effective sentence and Ojideagu appealed.
He was granted bail pending the appeal, which was dismissed in the Supreme Court, when Judge K Pillay found the sentence imposed on Ojideagu was not inappropriate.
She said drug dealing was a serious crime with devastating consequences for the purchasers and their families and that dealers showed no regard for the physical and emotional well-being of the persons to whom they sell.
She also said courts should impose sentences that not only deter individuals, but had a general deterrent effect.
South Africa’s legislation against drugs is world class, but poor enforcement has led to the booming of the organised drug trade, further fuelled by the dismantling of SANAB.
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