A CLINICAL nurse from Mahikeng Female Correctional Services Centre testified at the Mmabatho Magistrates Court on Thursday, 11 January.
Keneilwe Senokwane said Agnes Setshwantsho, a 49-year-old woman facing insurance fraud and murder charges, was doing well on the diabetic medicine she was receiving from the facility.
Keneilwe testified on crucial aspects, proving that the facility where Setshwantsho is detained was suitable for a person with her medical condition.
Setshwantsho was arrested in November 2023 after being linked to the death of her niece, Bonolo Modiseemang, to profit from insurance payouts obtained on her niece's behalf fraudulently.
She is facing a count of murder, two counts of fraud, and defeating the ends of justice.
Setshwantsho mentioned while seeking bail the availability of a refrigerator to keep the medication at the proper temperature and access to a doctor who visits the facility once a week for consultations.
It was said in court that Setshwantsho's medical condition had improved to the point that her medication had been altered.
Senokwane said when Setshwantsho came to the facility last December, she indicated that she was diabetic and used tablets and insulin shots. She said they had to take her out from the insulin shots because, after consulting with the doctor, they determined that the insulin shots were causing her sugar level to remain consistently low.
“Since she's drinking these tablets, we're not experiencing any problem,” she told the court.
Senokwane said she was the one who physically examined Setshwantsho as a standard procedure for admitting a patient.
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Senokwane said Setshwantsho also got a blood monitoring machine that she must carry around in her cell to monitor her blood sugar level daily. She said Setshwantsho was given a cooler box with insulin shots inside, together with an ice bag during the day in her cell for her to inject herself. She said the facility only took away the medication from Setshwantsho at night when she went to receive her last meal of the day.
But Setshwantsho’s attorney, Nhlanhla Mahlangu, questioned why the correctional services gave his client the medication in what he viewed as improper packaging.
“Would you have been the one who packed the medication for the insulin shots in a bread-plastic bag without the ice bag? Is it a standard procedure to package those insulin shots in a bread packaging plastic?" he said.
Senokwane responded: “We don't have a procedure on how to package them. We just make provisions because it's like an ideal situation. We don’t have the proper procedure on how we do it."
Mahlangu further asked if Senokwane was aware of the cost implication of the correctional service centre having to keep and treat Setshwantsho.
She responded: “We have a budget for all the clients, but I don't have a specific budget for particularly Setshwantsho."
With the alleged death threats towards Senokwane by Setswantsho, the North West National Prosecuting Authority’s spokesman, Henry Mamothame, said it's under investigation.
The bail hearing was postponed to Friday, 12 January, for closing arguments in her bail application.
She was remanded in custody.
