The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has referred four cases of sexual abuse to the High Court for automatic review following public outcry after the Siteki Magistrate’s Court issued suspended sentences on the cases.
Members of the public and human rights organisations expressed concern after four suspects in four separate cases walked free after the presiding officer, Principal Magistrate Musa Nxumalo, suspended their sentences.
The cases include one which involved a school’s security guard who was alleged to have sexually abused and impregnated a 14-year-old pupil.
Celumusa Ayanda Dlamini (33) appeared before the principal magistrate while facing a charge of contravening the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act. He was said to have committed an unlawful sexual act upon the 14-year-old girl who is regarded as a minor by law.
The charge was accompanied by aggravating factors, which included that the accused exposed the minor to the risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections. When the matter commenced trial, the Crown furnished the court with a statement of agreed facts which had been recorded with the accused.
ALSO READ | Man dies by suicide after DNA test excludes him as father
In the statement, the accused admitted to have committed the crime, stating that he was in a love relationship with the minor for over six months. He stated that he met the girl at a school where he was employed as a security guard.
The accused stated that the girl visited him at his parental home at Mzilikazi on several occasions. This was until the girl’s mother discovered through WhatsApp messages that the two have been seeing each other since July 2025. The minor was subsequently taken to Lubombo Referral Hospital where she recorded positive results to a pregnancy test.
The accused was accordingly found guilty as per his own plea. The principal magistrate handed down a sentence of 12 years imprisonment without an option of a fine. However, Nxumalo wholly suspended the sentence for a period of three years on condition that the accused does not commit a similar offence.
Following this judgment and three others, the public opined that this was a very serious offence that did not warrant a suspended sentence. This led to the JSC issuing a statement, assuring the public about the role of the Judiciary in fighting such cases.
In a statement which was published on Friday, the JSC first clarified that every magistrate presiding over a criminal case enjoyed substantive judicial independence to deliver judgment, based on their interpretation of the law without fear of reprisal.
Furthermore, the JSC stated that the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act of 1938 provided for automatic review of all criminal cases presided and concluded by magistrates. It was stated that the criminal records of proceedings were handed over to the High Court for automatic review of both the conviction and sentence.
“The four criminal sentences which were suspended by the Siteki Magistrate’s Court have all been referred to the High Court judges for review, and, the High Court will hand down its judgments which can only be appealable to the Supreme Court, which is the final court in the country,” reads part of the statement issued by the JSC.
Additional Context
The decision to refer the cases for review highlights the legal safeguard within Eswatini’s justice system, where higher courts reassess lower court rulings, especially in sensitive matters involving minors and serious offences.
