Bail for five in alleged killing of a thief

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Bail for five in alleged killing of a thief

April 15, 2007 Edition 1

Jani Meyer

FIVE men accused of the murder of an alleged thief were granted bail in the Durban Magistrate’s Court after a 12-day hunger strike.

Looking frail, the men stared in front of them during the proceedings, which only lasted a few minutes.

S’thembiso Ngcobo, 32, S’bongiseni Gwala, 34, Cosmos Nkwanyane, 31, Thina Khanyile, 27, and Mduduzi Ngqulunga of the Kennedy Road informal settlement have been charged with the murder of Mzwakhe Sithole, 26.

The men are accused of being part of a crowd that caught Sithole and assaulted him.

The state claims Sithole was tied to a tree and beaten by the crowd before being handed over to the police. He later died in police custody and Ngqulunga, the Chairman of the Kennedy Road Development Committee, was arrested.

A week later the other four men were arrested in a pre-dawn raid at the settlement.

The men claimed that Sithole was alive when he was handed over to the police and went on a hunger strike to protest what they termed their “wrongful arrest” and the manner in which Sydenham police were handling their case.

When the men entered the packed courtroom on Friday ,there were gasps because of the physical state they were in. Their faces were gaunt and they appeared frail and disorientated.

The men had the support of members of the community as well as church leaders who attended the bail hearing. Because of the number of people trying to cram into the limited space, Magistrate Bilkish Asmal ordered the group to leave the courtroom until the five men’s case was heard.

Members of the Abahlali BaseMjondolo shack dwellers’ association and church leaders waited patiently outside the court building where they held a prayer meeting.

The men had also been visited by Anglican Church Bishop, Rubin Phillip, while incarcerated at Westville Prison.

The State did not oppose bail on condition the men did not return to Kennedy Road during the court case and reported to the police once a week.