PICS: Case of 82-year-old gogo arrested near eSwatini border on dagga smuggling charges struck off the roll

An 82-year-old woman is appearing in court after she was found wrapped with dagga around her body in Mpumalanga. Photo: Supplied/SAPS

An 82-year-old woman is appearing in court after she was found wrapped with dagga around her body in Mpumalanga. Photo: Supplied/SAPS

Published May 13, 2022

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Pretoria - The case of an 82-year-old grandmother who was arrested for allegedly smuggling dagga near the eSwatini border has been struck off the roll.

Provincial commissioner of police in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela, had expressed “great shock” at the incident.

Police later confirmed the matter was struck off the roll by the presiding magistrate at the Nkomazi Magistrates Court.

Mpumalanga police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala had earlier said the woman was arrested by officers in area.

“According to the information at police disposal, members at Tonga were busy with their duties of patrolling in the morning of yesterday (Thursday) at Magudu in Nkomazi, near the borderline between the Kingdom of eSwatini and South Africa, when they spotted a minibus with some commuters.”

The vehicle was halted, and police officers conducted a search on the minibus as well as its occupants.

An 82-year-old woman is appearing in court after she was found wrapped with dagga around her body in Mpumalanga. Photo: Supplied/SAPS

“It was then that the old woman was allegedly found wrapped with dagga around her body. The dagga seized from her was weighing at 3,88 kgs and estimated at the street value of almost R6000. She was subsequently arrested and charged for dealing in dagga, hence her court appearance today,” said Mohlala.

“Preliminary investigation by the police has since revealed that the old woman was allegedly on a trip of trafficking the dagga to Bushbuckridge when the members intercepted her mission.”

Meanwhile, Manamela has appealed to senior citizens to set a good example to the younger generation “rather than being involved in criminal activities”.

An 82-year-old woman is appearing in court after she was found wrapped with dagga around her body in Mpumalanga. Photo: Supplied/SAPS

“It is really a call for concern to find yourself in a situation, as a police officer, having to arrest a pensioner. Senior citizens and adults, in general, are supposed to be exemplary by obeying the law, not the other way round,” she said.

“But be as it may, we are there to enforce the law without fear or favour and we hope that others will learn from this exercise.”

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