The Sunday News
Sukulwenkosi Dube Plumtree Correspondent
“I WAS very thirsty Your Worship and I had to get a drink but I did not have the money. The bottle of brandy was tempting as it sat there unattended on the counter.
“I realised that the bar man was not looking and I decided to help myself,” this was a mitigatory statement of a 32-year-old Plumtree man based in Botswana, Dennis Dlamini of Dingumuzi suburb, who stole a bottle of brandy from a local bar.
He will spend 10 days in the cells after he failed to pay a $20 fine.
Prosecuting, Mr Elisha Mazorodze said Dlamini snatched a 750ml bottle of brandy from 4Js Bar.
“On 19 April at about 9pm Dlamini was drinking with his friends at a bar. He stole a bottle of brandy which was on top of the counter while the bar man was serving other customers.
“His friends noticed that he had a bottle of brandy which they did not see him buy. They alerted the bar man who alerted security guards who arrested Dlamini and took him to the police station,’’ said Mr Mazorodze.
Dlamini appeared before Plumtree magistrate Mr Gideon Ruvetsa and was ordered to pay $20 or spend 10 days in prison in case of default.
In another incident, a 27-year-old Plumtree man, Steven Lunga, stole two packets of sausages worth $4 from 4Js Restaurant.
Prosecuting Mr Mazorodze said: “On 21 April about 10pm Loyisani Munkulu who works at the restaurant as a security guard saw Lunga leaving with two chakalaka braai packs from the counter without paying.
“He stopped him and asked for his receipt. Lunga confessed that he had stolen the sausages and indicated that he had no money to pay for them. He was arrested immediately.”
Lunga was ordered to pay $20 or spend 10 days in prison in case of default by Mr Ruvetsa.
