A 20-year-old Mr. Kamoho Mokhele, a herdboy who was in custody awaiting trial for raping a 14-year-old girl has been released on Speed Trial Act following failure for his trial to proceed on the set date. The accused lawyer, Advocate Motebo Ntabe applied that the accused be discharged and released for lack of prosecution as the matter has been postponed due to absenteeism of the crown since its last hearing in January 2023.

He asked for his release citing he had been denied bail and had been imprisoned for “more than is necessary” as three months passed while there was no progress.Prosecutor Advocate Tsotang Maile objected saying the matter proceeded in February and the next hearing date was set to 11 and 12 July 2023 as the next available dates according to the court’s diary. “The accused will still be tried within a reasonable time. It is tiring that he is awaiting trial in custody, but it would be more concerning if the set dates had already passed without any proceedings.

The interests mentioned are also at heart of the prosecution hence we tried all we could to schedule the trial to a near available date. He further objected citing the matter is only 22 days away from proceeding.