Appeal judge slashes drug dealer\'s sentence

Jabulane Billyboy Sithole had appealed against his conviction and seven-year sentence for drug-dealing, after 160kg of dagga was found in his car at a roadblock. Minimum sentences for dealing in dagga are triggered for any amount valued at more than R50 000. As police work on the figure of R1 a gram, the magistrate accepted that the dagga was worth R160 000. But appeal judge Edwin Cameron put the value of Sithole\'s load at between R2 000 and R4 000, as he considered that dagga bought in bulk was cheaper. Full report in The Star