Tuesday, 28 September 2021
Abahlali baseMjondolo press statement
Drop All Charges Against the eKhenana Six! Free Mnguni, Tshazi and Ngila!
Tomorrow, Wednesday 29 September, Lindokuhle Mnguni, Landu Tshazi and Ayanda Ngila will appear in the Durban Magistrate’s Court. Mqapheli (George) Bonono, Maphiwe Gasela and Siniko Miya will appear in the same court on Friday 1 October.
Mnguni, Tshazi, Ngila, Bonono and Gasela all played a leading role in the eKhenana Occupation in Cato Manor, which was developed into a working commune. The achievements of the commune have been widely noted – even in the mainstream media – and include its impressive democratic practices, building a community hall, a co-operatively run farm with vegetables and poultry, a political school that is used by the movement as a whole, self-organised access to services such as water and electricity, a place for young people to relax and socialise, a self-built road, and more.
The commune came under sustained violent attack from the eThekwini Municipality, the police and the local ANC – all working with ANC linked people aiming to seize control land of communally managed land for the purposes of making private profit. Mzi Ngiba, the local ward councillor, was usually present when the occupation was attacked, homes destroyed and burnt and the residents beaten, tear gassed and shot at with rubber bullets and, at times, with live ammunition. He also works with local thugs to oppose the occupation. The Cato Manor police consistently supported the illegal and violent evictions carried out by the municipality.
In mid-March a man by the name of Vusi Shezi was murdered in Cato Manor, a place where murder is a regular occurrence. Mnguni, Tshazi and Ngila were arrested and charged with the murder. After the arrests our Deputy President, Mqapheli (George) Bonono, called an open meeting at the Diakonia Council of Churches to discuss the matter and find out what was happening. After that meeting he and Gasela and Miya were arrested and charged with planning a conspiracy to murder at the meeting. It was alleged that they planned a conspiracy to murder a person who was, at the time, claiming to be a witness to the murder of Shezi.
Mnguni, Tshazi and Ngila have been kept in the notorious Westville Prison for six months, and repeatedly denied bail, despite no credible evidence having been brought against them. Bonono and Gasela spent more than two weeks in Westville Prison before they were able to win bail. Gasela was separated from her seriously unwell sixteen-month-old baby while she was in prison. Miya was denied bail as he has a pending case dating back to before the occupation was formed and he remains in prison.
It was immediately clear that the case against Bonono, Gasela and Miya was farcical, and a very crude frame-up. There were numerous people at the public meeting called by Bonono who can testify that its purpose, as stated, was to find out what had happened with regard to the murder of Shezi and the arrests of Mnguni, Tshazi and Ngila.
It is now just as clear that there is no case against Mnguni, Tshazi and Ngila and that they are also victims of a crude frame-up. Even the autopsy report showed that the murder of Shezi happened in a different way to that stated in the original witness statements.
It is outrageous that the criminal justice system has been captured by the ANC and misused to repress grassroots activists. It is outrageous that people have been kept in prison, and living with charges on their heads, long after it became crystal clear that there is no case against any of the six.
This morning we held a picket outside the Durban High Court to protest against the capture of the criminal justice by the ANC in order to repress activists.
The misuse of the criminal justice system against the eKhenana Six is not a unique outrage. As we noted in a previous statement in the early years of our movement Shamitha Naidoo and Louisa Motha led a brave struggle against the notorious thug Ricky Govender in Motala Heights in Pinetown. Govender has strong connections with the local police and claimed to be close to Jacob Zuma. Naidoo remains active in Motala Heights were she is hated by the landlords for opposing evictions and organising occupations.
In 2009 a young man in Motala Heights was tragically killed as a result of a fight between a group of young men. The police made no accusations against Shamitha as a result of this tragic murder. But earlier this year she was charged with ‘conspiracy to murder’ – the same charge brought against Bonono, Gasela and Miya. On 17 September the case against Naidoo went to trail. The magistrate threw the case out. After this the state prosecutor advised Naidoo to open cases against those who had borne false witness.
The abuse of the criminal justice system to repress activists has been going on since at least 2000 when the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign began to face repression.
There is an urgent need for systemic reform of the criminal justice system to stop it from being misused to repress activists. Today we held a picket outside the Durban High Court in protest against the routine abuse of the criminal justice system to repress activists.
If evidence and justice are taken seriously we expect to Mnguni, Tshazi and Ngila to walk free tomorrow, and all charges against Bonono, Gasela and Miya to be dropped on Friday.
Contact:
Thapelo Mohapi 074 774 4219
S’bu Zikode 083 547 0474
Nomsa Sizani 081 005 3686