Bail applications of 11 accused denied

Families of the 11 accused charged with public violence, malicious damage to property and arson in relation to the recent Vuwani mayhem in opposition to a new municipality were dismayed on Wednesday when the bail application was postponed for the second time.

The accused include a councillor of the Makhado Local Municipality, Mr Gideon Tshavhuyo.  

Twenty-four schools were set alight in the area amidst the community’s opposition to the new municipality.

Magistrate Caswell Ntsane accepted the application by the State that requested the postponement to allow the investigating officer to look into the backgrounds of the accused. According to the court, the State needs time to investigate if the accused have previous convictions or pending cases against them as this may influence the bail application.

When the case was postponed, one of the accused and a teacher, Mr Edzisani Muthathe, appeared to lose his cool and say something to the magistrate in protest against the postponement. Magistrate Ntsane then warned Muthathe that he would discipline him. His legal representative, Adv Meshack Nephawe, restrained him and urged the magistrate to take it lightly.

Earlier, Nephawe and Adv Vutshilo Nange for Tshavhuyo and the remaining other accused begged the magistrate to allow the bail application to continue, saying continual postponements would be prejudicial to the accused. “We cannot continue postponing while the accused are being deprived of their rights,” said Nange. He said the court had ruled last Monday that the case should be postponed to Wednesday for the sake of a bail application and was going against its own ruling when it postponed the matter again.

Muthathe’s lawyer Nephawe added: “The accused’s freedom is paramount and they should not be deprived of these rights by further postponing the bail application.”

Ntsane said it was no ordinary case and involved massive destruction of property, and the investigating officer should be allowed to do profiling before the bail application was held.

Tshavhuyo, a ward councillor for the ANC and resident of Ha-Mashau, appeared calm through the case. They will appear in court again on 24 May.

News - Date: 23 May 2016

Kaizer Nengovhela

Kaizer Nengovhela started writing stories for Limpopo Mirror in 2000. Prior to that he had a five year stint at Phala-Phala FM as sports presenter. In 2005 Kaizer received an award from the province's premier as Best Sports Presenter. The same year he was also nominated as Best Sports Reporter by the Makhado Municipality. Kaizer was awarded the Mathatha Tsedu award in 2014.

Email: [email protected]