Africa-Press – Lesotho. A Qacha’s Nek rape suspect who has been languishing in remand prison since December last year was finally granted bail on Monday. The 14-year-old victim had fiercely opposed bail claiming she would be harmed if he was released on bail.
However, the magistrate, ’Mampho Mokoena, granted Kamohelo Mokhele, 23, bail after his lawyer argued that the prosecution seemed no longer interested in the case.
Mokhele’s lawyer, Advocate Ntabe Ntabe argued that his client was being taken from his prison cell to the magistrate’s court only to be remanded back to custody without the case proceeding.
“This is unfair,” Advocate Ntabe said. Magistrate Mokoena relied on the provisions of the Speedy Courts Trial Act 2002 to release Mokhele on bail pending completion of his trial.
“A person shall not be remanded in custody for a period exceeding 60 days unless there are compelling reasons to the contrary and such reasons shall be recorded in writing,” reads Section 4 of the Speedy Courts Trial Act, 2002.
In 2021 Chief Justice Sakoane Sakoane operationalised the Act by gazetting the Subordinate Courts Practice Direction (Streamlining the Processing of Cases on Pre-Trial Remand Pending Further Investigations).
“When making an application for a further remand at the end of the 60 days from the date of first remand of the accused in court, the prosecutor shall submit to the remanding court the relevant material on whose basis a further remand is sought, including affidavits by the investigating officer on the time-frame for concluding the investigations,” the gazette reads.
It also requires “citations of the statutory provision and precedents on further remand pending finalisation of investigation versus the accused’s right to trial within a reasonable time”.
“The prosecutor shall only apply for further remand if satisfied, on the information and material supplied by the investigating officer that further remand will not unjustifiably cause delay in bringing the accused to trial within a reasonable time,” the gazette reads.
Advocate Ntabe said it was unfair that Mokhele had spent months in jail without his case being heard. He also complained that the prosecution was often not available on the dates Mokhele was to appear before court.
“My client was denied bail some months back and now the case is taking too long to go for hearing and he has been attending remands without fail,” he said.
When applying for bail shortly after his arrest, Mokhele told the court that he is a married man whose wife is unemployed and his family depends on him for their daily needs.
He told the court that he has a child. The court had denied him bail on grounds that the girl he allegedly raped said she was afraid that he would harm her as they are neighbours.
The court heard that in December last year the girl was herding the family’s flock of goats in the veld away from the village when Mokhele approached her, praising her for herding the goats.
Mokhele, the court heard, then overpowered the girl and raped her and ordered her to not tell anyone. The girl reported the matter to her grandmother and Mokhele was arrested. In coming to the decision, Magistrate Mokoena said it was not Mokhele’s fault that the case was not being prosecuted.
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