The absence of witnesses in the murder case involving a councillor´s wife and three other accused delayed the formal bail application of the accused for the third time.

The group of spectators who arrived by bus stood outside the court gates, only to be met by people from the court who told them the case had again been postponed. The well-behaved crowd, who were singing at the gates, did not move after learning of the postponement from other people, but waited patiently to be addressed by their leaders.

The crowd had come to oppose bail during an application at the Vuwani Magistrate’s court by the accused in an attempted murder case involving the shooting of a Thulamela municipality ward councillor, Alpheus Mulandana.

During the last postponement, which disappointed structures like the ANC, ANCYL, and COSATU, the legal representative of one of the accused sought a postponement on the grounds that he had just received the case and wanted to familiarise himself with it. A fourth accused was added to the case during this appearance.

Thulamela Municipality´s Ward 17 ANC councillor, Alpheus Mmbudzeni Mulandana (54) of Dzwerani, was shot five times and left for dead, but miraculously survived. He was asleep at home at the time of the incident. Not long after the incident, police made a major breakthrough when they arrested his wife, Kendy Mulandana (48). Her arrest led to the apprehending of a well-known traditional healer, Wilson Mulaudzi, 62, and his son Shumani (34).

The fourth accused, Isaac Mangata Luvhengo (29), believed to be the one who had pulled the trigger, was later added to the others and appeared in court.

On Friday last week, the formal bail application could not proceed as the state pointed out that it could not proceed with the bail application as the investigating officer who was a witness in the application was not present in court, for unknown reasons. The magistrate, Caswell Ntsane, postponed the case to May 28 for bail applications. Mr Nelson Matheba prosecuted.

The leadership of the assembled group later handed a memorundum of grievances to the Vuwani chief magistrate, Takalani Tshishonga. Mr Alfred Nenungwi, who is the ANC Dzindi Branch chairperson, read the memo before handing it to the chief magistrate. The secretary of the branch, Rudzani Mulaudzi, said they were very satisfied with the way the case had been handled. He thanked the police for the speedy arrest of the suspects but expressed worry about the postponements. "These postponements are costing us a lot and I suspect that they are meant to weaken us. We won´t give up, even if it takes a long time. We would like to see justice done and the suspects rotting where they belong," he said. He encouraged people to be patient and implored them to behave in a manner that befits the stature of Mulandana.