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Temba Dube Deputy News Editor—
A BULAWAYO lawyer who last month successfully applied for the removal of a police prosecutor in a theft case involving a police officer, has dropped his client after receiving death threats. Byron Sengweni of Mcijo Dube and partners yesterday told The Chronicle he was living in fear after unknown people left a type written note at his office, threatening to kill him and harm his “niece.”

He said before that, a day after The Chronicle published the story on June 27, two men came to his home in Paddonhurst suburb armed with a grinder and tried to cut through a door.

Sengweni asked a court for a civilian prosecutor saying he feared his client, Felix Sangu, a police officer stationed at Hillside police station who is facing theft charges, would not have a fair trial. Sangu, a canteen manager at the police station, is alleged to have stolen cash and stock worth $1, 651,89 from the station canteen.

Sengweni yesterday said a person involved in the case wanted to stop it from going through the courts.

“The story came out on 27 June. The following night at about 1 AM, I heard someone trying to cut through the door with a grinder,” said Sengweni.

He said what frightened him the most was that the person did not seem concerned with the racket he was making.

Sengweni said when he switched on the outside lights, he saw two men, still unperturbed that they had been discovered, busy at work. “I called the police but they took long to come. I then called the Fire Brigade for assistance and they called the police too,” said Sengweni.

He said moments before the police arrived, he heard a car hooting and the two men fled.

The lawyer said although he was disturbed by the incident, he only connected it to the case after his client kept telling him that someone was threatening him saying his days were numbered.

“I made the connection after the threatening note was left at my office with the same words.

“SECOND WARNING: take note of the changes occurring. You played clever your moves but it’s unfortunate that it might not take you anywhere away from the predator, instead it’s now a checkmate (sic),” read the note, a copy of which is in The Chronicle’s possession.

“Choose between COMMATOSE or injection for your NIECE… It’s a fixed rule, anyone who messes with the system gets a penalty. DAYS ARE NUMBERED…”

Sengweni said the five lawyers at the office held a meeting to discuss the note before calling the police.

“My case was the only one dealing with ‘a system.’ The previous day I had applied for the certified record that had been used when my client was tried under the Police Act to be availed to the court,” he said.

Sengweni said there had been stiff resistance by someone he could not name for professional reasons and the following day, he got the dire warning.

He said police were on high alert following the death threat, adding that he thought the first warning was when intruders came to his home. Sengweni said he believed the niece mentioned in the note was his sister who he worked with at the office.

He said most people referred to her as his niece.

“As of Monday last week, my client is a self actor as I had to drop the case. I’ve to consider my family. It’s sad that my family is in danger because of this case. The only time you can know if a threat is real, is when something happens and I can’t take that chance,” he said.

The president of the Bulawayo Legal Practitioners Association, Christopher Dube-Banda, confirmed they had received a report about the issue. “He reported to us as an association and we advised him to report to the police. We’ve since been advised there is now a police report,” said Dube-Banda.

He said the association was taking the matter seriously since one of their members had been threatened on work related issues.

Acting Bulawayo police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Abedinico Ncube could neither confirm nor deny the incident as he was out of office last night.