A 38-year-old man claimed he got carried away during an Easter service and excessively drank Holy Communion wine.
Thamsanqa Kunene of Ngobolweni told the Manzini Magistrate’s Court that he became overly excited while celebrating the resurrection of Christ and ended up drinking more wine than intended.
“There was a lot of wine left after the congregation had taken Holy Communion, and I drank it,” he admitted.
However, his Easter celebrations took a turn for the worse when he was stopped by police while driving home from church and was arrested for driving under the influence.
The incident occurred on Monday, along Sandlane Street in Manzini. Kunene recorded an alcohol content of 0.82 mg/l.
He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment with an option fine of E1 000.
In a separate but similar incident, a 39-year-old man of Fairview was also convicted of drink-driving after he was found to still have alcohol in his system while preparing to attend Easter services.
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Nkululeko Shongwe appeared before Manzini Magistrate Thami Ndlovu.
He told the court that he was a member of the Zion Christian Church (ZCC) and had intended to attend Easter services.
Shongwe claimed that he had consumed alcohol the previous day but went to sleep hoping he would be sober by the following day.
He said, due to fuel shortage scare, he went out to secure petrol.
“On my return from the filling station, I was stopped by police officers, who arrested me after it was established that the alcohol had not fully ‘cleared’ from my system.
“Your Worship, I intended to use the petrol I had purchased to drive to church,” he told the court.
According to the charge sheet, the offence occurred on Good Friday at Fairview. Shongwe was said to have recorded an alcohol content of 0.40 mg/l.
He was charged with contravening Section 91(5), read with Sections 122(1) and 122(7) of the Road Traffic Act No. 6 of 2007.
He was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment with an option fine of E1 000. The sentence was, however, wholly suspended for one year on condition that he does not commit a similar offence during that period.
