S v HOLMES 1982 (2) ZLR 267 (H)

Flynote

Criminal law — Exchange control Act [Chapter 170] — section 5 (3) (a) "special reasons" not to impose a minimum sentence — meaning of — accused buying foreign cheques but not exporting them, thus ensuring no loss of currency.

Headnote

The accused, a businessman, bought two cheques from a woman. The cheques were expressed in foreign currency, and he paid for them considerably more than their face value. At that stage it was his intention to export them from Zimbabwe, but he later changed his mind and deposited them at his local bank. By so doing he ensured that there was no loss of foreign currency to the country. It was argued on appeal that the circumstances were such that there were "special reasons" why the minimum fine provided for by section (3a) should not be imposed.

Held, that in the context of the section, "special reasons" means special reasons which make less than normal the moral blameworthiness of the accused, to the extent that the mandatory minimum fine should not be imposed. The word "special" must be taken to refer to reasons or circumstances that are out of the ordinary either in their degree or their nature. The appellant's genuine remorse and his early and voluntary determination to right the wrong he had committed were such circumstances.