Rustenburg- A man accused of smashing windows at the Vryburg Magistrate’s Court in North West was released on a R500 bail on Tuesday, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said.
NPA Spokesperson in North West Henry Mamothame said Sibongile Dube, 35, appeared in the Vryburg Magistrate's Court facing a charge of malicious damage to property. The case against him was postponed to February 18 for investigations.
"A Legal Aid attorney has been appointed to represent him, the state did not oppose his bail application as he is deemed not to be a flight risk and has a fixed address. Dube is, however, barred from interfering with state witnesses," Mamothame said.
Last week, Dube changed his mind at the last minutes, he earlier told the court he would represent himself and plead guilty but when he appear in court for plea hearing, he told the court he would no longer plead guilty and requested to be represented by an attorney.
Dube had earlier told the court that he smashed the windows at the Vryburg Magistrate’s Court because of anger, following a three-month jail sentence he served for failing to appear in court on a separate offence in June 2020. He also attributed his anger to a two-year sentence he received in 2009 on an assault case. He alleges he had a valid reason for not attending court but was nonetheless sentenced.
Dube was arrested on January 9 after a security officer on duty heard windows being smashed, and upon investigation the officer saw Dube running away from the scene.
He chase and caught Dube, , the police were called and he was arrested and officially charged.
In a similar case in Gauteng, Paul Makaula, 36, is expected to appeared in the Hillbrow Magistrate's Court on March 25 for allegedly smashing windows at the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg.
Makaula is facing a charge of malicious damage to property. He was reportedly on parole when he allegedly smashed the windows at the Constitutional Court using a hammer.
IOL