A University of KwaZulu Natal student and self-confessed drug addict has pleaded guilty to selling drugs on campus.
|||Durban - A University of KwaZulu-Natal student and self-confessed drug addict has pleaded guilty to selling drugs on campus.
Final-year geology student Ithumeleng (Troy) Sekhetane, 23, was arrested in March at the university’s Westville campus Block B residence, from where he operated his “business”.
He had appeared in the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court on four counts of dealing in drugs. Sekhetane was sentenced to a fine of R15 000 - to be paid in monthly instalments of R1 000.
He received a further fine of R5 000 or three years’ imprisonment, wholly suspended for five years, and 10 years’ imprisonment, wholly suspended for five years, on condition that he did not commit the same offence again.
In mitigation of sentence, the court heard that Sekhetane was a final-year student, did not have any pending cases and had shown remorse by pleading guilty.
His attorney, Bilal Malani, said Sekhetane had admitted to being a victim of drug addiction and that most of his income had been spent on feeding his addiction.
He volunteered to attend a drug rehabilitation programme in Westville.
He pledged to mend his ways and give back to society by helping addicts to overcome their problems.
In aggravation of sentence, it emerged Sekhetane had been previously convicted of possession of dagga and had been earning a living through selling drugs. He had been bust in an undercover operation selling cannabis and Rohypnol to the value of R2 350.
During Sekhetane’s arrest police also seized a “client list” containing more than 200 names - many of them students - to whom Sekhetane sold designer drugs
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The Mercury