A teenager who allegedly stole a vehicle at Marobela village and crossed into Zimbabwe at an ungazetted point of entry has been remanded in custody.
After managing to cross into his home country with the stolen double cab Nissan bakkie, 18-year-old Nqobile Siziba’s luck ran out as the vehicle got stuck in a river.
A Francistown Magistrates Court heard that on October 11th, Siziba stole the vehicle belonging to Mothusi April and illegally crossed into Zimbabwe at night.
Upon entering Zimbabwe, the teenager attempted to cross a river but the vehicle got stuck in the sand.
A curious passerby then called the Zimbabwean police and when they arrived at the scene, Siziba bolted off and crossed back into Botswana.
He was later arrested on October 14th.
The investigating officer in the case, Meshack Mosika, pleaded with court to remand Siziba in custody as investigations were still underway.
“The accused was only arrested on the 14th at night as a suspect for stealing a car. He does not have any travelling documents nor a permanent place of abode here in Botswana. The motor vehicle in question is at a Zimbabwe police station and we have since requested Interpol at Gaborone to facilitate repatriation of the vehicle,” Mosika pleaded.
He also stated that he has since liaised with their counterparts in Harare and noted that the repatriation process will take some time.
Mosika further added that he also needs to go to Zimbabwe to record statements from the officers who recovered the motor vehicle.
“I therefore believe the accused is a flight risk and should he be granted bail he is unlikely to adhere to any bail conditions more so that the charge he is facing is a very serious one,” indicated Mosika when opposing the bail application.
The accused was also charged with entering the country illegally.
For his part, the accused teenager said he did not steal the car, but took it without the owner’s permission and unfortunately got arrested.
“The next morning I called him to tell him that I was sorry. I then went to his wife so that we could go to the police as the owner of the car is in Gaborone,” he said.
Siziba’s defense however did not convince the Magistrate as he remanded him in custody pending police investigations.
He will be back in court on the 2nd of November.
He should be remanded in Custody almost 2 years.