MBABANE – A 75 year old man was sentenced to two years in prison after he admitted that he was a dagga dealer.

The septuagenarian said he sells dagga in order to make a living.

Lufafa Dlamini pleaded guilty to illegal possession of dagga when he appeared before Mbabane Magistrate Siphosini Dlamini on Tuesday.

Dressed in a blue pair of trousers and a large black coat, he was walking with the aid of a walking stick. Prosecutor Khumbulani Mngomezulu read the charge to him and he had to repeat it before the clerk of court moved closer to the dock and repeated it more loudly as he seemed to have a hard time hearing what was being said to him.

In a shaky voice, Dlamini entered a plea of guilty to being found with 19.2kg of the illegal substance at his home in Nkomazi. "Your Worship, it is true that the dagga is mine. I sell it to earn a living. The prices vary from E500 to E800 depending on how much you want. I assure the court that this is the first time I have been arrested for dagga possession," Dlamini said.

He also confessed that he was not a first offender and had been arrested in his youth for assaulting another man.

He asked that the court to be lenient and said he would never engage in this illegal act again. He said the money from the sale of the dagga went towards the maintenance of his family, which comprised of his eight children and a number of grandchildren, of whom he said he could not give an exact figure because there were many.

Magistrate Dlamini sentenced the accused to one year in prison with an option of a E2 000 fine.

Dlamini’s son Godvweni Dlamini, who was in court, paid the fine immediately after Dlamini left the courtroom.

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