A warrant of arrest has been issued for former Bafana Bafana striker Thamsanqa Gabuza after he failed to appear at the Alexandra magistrate’s court on Monday.
Gabuza was scheduled to make his fourth appearance in court for a charge of malicious damage to property.
The matter was previously postponed for an alternate dispute resolution (mediation), which was set to take place on Monday between Gabuza and the complainant.
However, the 36-year-old Gabuza, who is currently out on R3 000 bail, failed to show up.
Gabuza, a former Orlando Pirates and SuperSport United striker, is currently plying his trade with Premier Soccer League club TS Galaxy.
No sign of Gabuza
The court proceedings started at about 9.30am when the state prosecutor, advocate Tshiego Deka, called Gabuza to step into the dock.
There was no sign of Gabuza, as neither he nor his lawyer, Themba Ngobeni, came to the courtroom. The complainant, Zikhona Zode, was present in the courtroom.
Deka asked magistrate Lindokuhle Lubisi to stand down so that she could contact Ngobeni and find out where Gabuza was.
When the matter resumed at about 11.45am, Deka called Gabuza again to step into the dock, but again, Gabuza was nowhere to be found.
Ngobeni did not come to the courtroom as well.
Deka informed Lubisi that she had contacted Ngobeni, who told her that he had no clue where Gabuza was.
Warrant of arrest
Lubisi issued a warrant of arrest for Gabuza and ordered that his bail be revoked and forfeited to the state.
She then postponed the matter to February 15 for Gabuza’s appearance and for possible mediation.
Gabuza is required to appear in court on February 15 and provide an explanation for his absence from the January 29 court date due to the issuance of the stayed arrest warrant.
Failure to do so will result in the police going out to look for him and resulting in his arrest.
Shortly before 1pm, Ngobeni entered the courtroom for a separate matter.
Ill-health
When approached for comment, Ngobeni said Gabuza did not come to court due to ill-health.
“I do not know where he is. He did not come to court because he was not feeling well. He is currently receiving medical intervention,” said Ngobeni.
When approached for comment after the matter stood down, Zode declined to comment.
During Gabuza’s previous court appearance on December 19, the matter was postponed because Zode was not available. The matter was also postponed for possible mediation.
Prior to that, Gabuza appeared in court on December 11, and the matter was postponed for possible mediation.
During his first court appearance in November, magistrate Peggy Senne set Gabuza’s bail at R3 000 with conditions that he must not make any direct or indirect contact with the complainant and that he must not go to her place of residence.
He was also ordered to attend all court hearings and warned that failure to do so would result in a warrant of arrest being issued against him.
Gabuza was also ordered not to commit a similar offence again; failure to do so will result in him being sent back to prison.
