NDODANA Mkhanyisi Tshuma’s guilty plea proceedings have hit another stumbling block after he told the court he doesn’t remember entering into a plea agreement.
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This was heard on 21 October, after he had signed the plea deal on 8 September.
Tshuma appeared briefly in the Joburg Magistrates Court on Tuesday, 10 November, for plea and sentencing proceedings relating to the unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition.
His defence lawyer, Chrispen Machingura told journalists outside court that the Section 105 plea process had become complicated, with several postponements along the way.
He said the court had previously raised concerns that the plea agreement didn’t properly set out elements of the offence and the relevant penal provision.
Although the agreement was amended, the court still had to check the facts behind the guilty plea before securing a conviction.
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Machingura said one of the biggest sticking points was that Tshuma claimed he didn’t remember signing the plea agreement or entering into the deal.
He said the defence didn’t want its client to testify about something he couldn’t remember.
“When you have an accused person saying, ‘I don’t remember something.’ If you proceed with a guilty plea, are you convicting him on what he knows or what he doesn’t know? That’s the dilemma the court is facing now,” he said.
Machingura said the plea agreement had been amended several times, making the process even more complicated.
He warned the court could end up entering a not-guilty plea, which would send the matter for trial.
Asked how Tshuma was coping with repeated delays, Machingura said he was sometimes fine and other times not coping well.
He added that his client wanted the matter finalised so he could return to the United Kingdom.
“He wants to go back to the UK. If that’s first prize, even in our negotiations. That’s my mandate. He wants to go back to the UK. It’s still our first prize,” he said.
The matter was postponed to 7 December to give the defence more time to engage with Tshuma and resolve outstanding issues.
Tshuma is wanted in Bedford, Bedfordshire, in the UK, on three counts of murder relating to the alleged killing of his wife and their two kids.
He’s also facing extradition proceedings to the UK.
