19 May 2024

A 32-year-old Mathathane native, Forget Machete has been discharged and acquitted of a road rage murder committed near St Joseph Primary school four years ago.

He was cleared of the murder charge by Justice Godfrey Radijeng of Gaborone High Court on Thursday after establishing that he was acting in self defence.

“I accept that the attack or retaliation by the accused was in self defence to an unlawful attack from the deceased,” Justice Radijeng said.

Justice Radijeng said the court could not inquire of what options the accused had when he was attacked by the deceased and how best and better he could have responded.

He said the accused asserted that he acted in the heat of the moment and he acted instinctively yet afraid and scared.

“The accused’s reaction was in the circumstances proportionate to the attack he had received from a man wielding a knife and in fact attacking him,” he said.

Furthermore, Justice Radijeng said the prosecution had failed to dislodge the accused’s defence or present evidence that disrupted the accused’s version.

Therefore, he said court accepted the defence version as reasonably probably true given the contradictions in the prosecution evidence.

Justice Radijeng said the accused’s evidence was reasonably probably true as he was the only one who saw the deceased return wielding a knife and attacked the accused.

“No other evidence presented speaks to what the accused’s version of events was, save for the corroboration of the accused evidence as it was apparent that he did not readily accept to go and view damages and that he was attacked by the people who came to the side of his car,” he said.

 Machete was charged for murder of Ekabang Makaka near St Joseph Primary school in the South East District in November 2020 following a road rage incident.

According to evidence presented to court, Machete was on November 29 driving from Lobatse alongside other two people and overtook a Runx corolla near the South East dumping site.

At or near St Joseph Primary school, he was cut off by a Honda Fit car, which stopped in front of him forcing him to stop, while the Runx he had overtaken blocked the other road lane.

Four men from both cars came rushing towards him accusing him of bad driving and hitting the Runx on the mirror.

The court heard that one of them slapped the accused on the face while another went for his phone and another switched off his car engine and took off the keys.

 However, two men who came from the Honda fit eventually went off leaving the Runx and its passengers on the scene.

The two men from Runx went to their car and the deceased came back to assault the accused and charged at him with a knife.

The accused eventually managed to block two knife attacks, sustained cuts and eventually overpowered the deceased and stabbed him in defence. The deceased was found by the pathologist to have died from a stab wound.

Before passing the judgment, Justice Radijeng said Section 16 of the penal code stated that a person shall not be criminally responsible for the use of force in repelling an unlawful attack upon his person or property, hence acquitted and discharged Machete who was represented by Mr Keorapele Sambere. ENDs.