THREE Zimbabweans and two Batswana have been slapped with two-year jail terms each in Botswana after being convicted for human trafficking following their arrest while transporting 10 Ethiopians without travel documents in Tonota recently.
Media reports from Botswana, say Francistown magistrate Tshepo Magetse convicted Dumisane Ncube, Llyod Chikwama, William Shoniwa together with locals Saviana Gaerope and Kagiso Madia before slapping them with a two-year jail term each for human trafficking.
The five were nabbed by the police, while transporting 10 undocumented Ethiopian immigrants in Tonota on October 5 this year.
The reports said the police initially pounced on Gaerope and Madia, who were using a minibus full of Ethiopians, but did not have travelling documents coming from Ramokgwebana border.
The court papers identified the Ethiopians as Mohammedur Fayissa, Mihueto Daniel, Bulloy Alumu, Dana Sulto, Mesrat Tafessa, Biruk Teshoma, Masfin Mekuru, Darsa Solomon, Adam Demechu and Marhum Mathewos.
The reports also indicated that when they were intercepted, the two local men told the police that they were expected to hand over the irregular immigrants to Shoniwa.
Shonhiwa, according to the courts, would have driven the Ethiopians to someone else in Serule, who would hand them over to another person in another town, before they were smuggled into South Africa through Botswana.
The Batswana led the police to Shoniwa, who was found in the company of Ncube and Chikwama.
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All the five men pleaded guilty to the charge before making a plea for a non-custodial sentence.
Madia told the court that he would have been paid 1 500 pula for transporting the Ethiopians, but was arrested before he could receive his payment.
“I plead with this court to be lenient with me when passing the sentence because I have a young child and if I go to prison, I will lose my job,” he said.
Chikwama and Shoniwa also confessed in court that they knew the Ethiopians were coming and that they were supposed to transport them to someone else who was waiting for them in Serule.
Shoniwa said Ncube did not know anything about the Ethiopians.
“I just gave him a lift and when I was arrested, he was also in the car. I am the one who was to transport them to Serule,” he said.
Ncube also pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced accordingly.
Shoniwa said he would have been paid 8 000 pula for transporting the Ethiopians, but had not received the payment at the time of his arrest.
In jailing them, Magetse said human trafficking was a serious problem in Botswana and the courts had to pass sentences that would deter those who want to commit a similar offence.
The 10 Ethiopians were remanded in custody after confessing to have paid their traffickers to ferry them to South Africa.
