CRI/A/121/84

IN THE
HIGH COURT OF LESOTHO

In the
Appeal of

JOHN
ZITHA Appellant

v

REX
Respondent

JUDGMENT

Delivered
by the Hon. Acting Mr Justice S. Peete on the 4th day of June 1985

The
appellant, along with other two accused, had originally been charged
with having contravened the provisions of Section 3(a)
of the 1973
Dangerous Medicine Act To this charge the appellant pleaded guilty
while the other two pleaded not guilty. The Crown
then proceeded
against the appellant after a separation of trials had been ordered.
The appellant, it should be noted, was not
legally represented and is
a Shangaan (or Mozambican citizen) and therefore not vested in
Sesotho language. The record on the face
of it shows that there was
no interpreter in these proceedings to interpret into a language
understood by the appellant, the nature
of the charge and the
evidence outlined by the Crown prosecutor. This Court is therefore
not satisfied that the appellant did fully
appreciate the
significance of his plea and also the nature of the evidence outlined
by the prosecutor The facts that were outlined
showed that the
appellant when being confronted by the police, had claimed

2

the
vehicle with registration numbers G3N512T as his. In this van, which
had a canopy, 32 bags of dagga were found. The dagga was
later
weighed and netted 495 kilograms. The appellant failed to produce a
lioence or permit to deal in dagga, a prohibited medicine
under the
Act. According to the record, the appellant admitted these facts and
was accordingly convicted as charged. He was sentenced
to three
years. He appeals mainly against conviction.

As 1 have
already pointed out, I am not satisfied that the appellant, who is a
foreigner and does not speak Sesotho, fully appreciated
the
significance of his plea of guilty (R v Booysen 1956(1) PH H 99) I
therefore order that the conviction and sentence be set
aside and the
case against the accused be re-tried before another magistrate at TY
(See Section 8(1)(b) of the High Court Act -
1978)

The
appellant should be transferred to TY Prison where he should be made
to appear before that magistrate as soon as practically
possible on a
fresh charge under Section 3(a) of the Dangerous Medicines Act of
1973.

ACTING
JUDGE

4th June,
1985

For the
Appellant Mr. Kambule

For the
Respondent Mr. Seholoholo