No bail for Doris

Doris Mthembi is behind bars again, and the chance of her getting bail is looking bleak. She might well spend the whole of the festive season behind bars.

Mthembi was arrested early on Saturday morning (3 December) by the Ritavi Police. Following a weekend in police custody, she briefly appeared in the Louis Trichardt Magistrate’s Court on Monday (5 December).

Mthembi was ordered to go back to jail on 11 November after her appeal to the High Court failed. She had turned to the High Court to have her six-year direct-imprisonment sentence set aside.

The 44-year-old Mthembi was handed down this sentence (for a term of 10 years, of which four were suspended) in the Louis Trichardt Regional Court during 2013, when she was found guilty of perjury. Mthembi had lied about being kidnapped and raped at gunpoint by her former husband, businessman Goddard Mugwena.

Following the High Court’s order, Mthembi has allegedly been evading the police. A warrant of arrest was issued on 25 November when Mthembi failed to adhere to the court order.

On Monday Mthembi and her husband Joe Ragwala, all but physically intimated a journalist from the Limpopo Mirror. Kaizer Nengovhela was trying to get a photograph of Mthembi, but to no avail. At one stage court personnel had to intervene to get Ragwala to stop intimidating Nengovhela.

Following this the court proceedings could finally commence. Mthembi was not afforded the opportunity to bring a bail application. Instead her case was postponed until Wednesday, 14 December, when she is expected to try and persuade the court to grant her bail.

She will remain in custody until then.

Date:09 December 2016

By: Isabel Venter

Isabel joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in 2009 as a reporter. She holds a BA Degree in Communication Sciences from the University of South Africa. Her beat is mainly crime and court reporting.

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