Political Arrests Continue in eKhenana

27 November 2022
Abahlali baseMjondolo press statement

Political Arrests Continue in eKhenana

On 17 November, just a day after the Universal Periodic Review of South Africa by the United Nations, in which the South African government was directly challenged by a number of countries on the repression of our movement, three of our comrades were arrested on bogus charges.

During the Universal Periodic Review the South African state was called to account for the twenty two members of our movement who have been killed during the course of our struggle. Mary Lawlor, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, has made a number of public statements expressing her profound concern.

We have lost four comrades this year. Siyabonga Manqele was murdered by masked police officers at the eNkanini Occupation and Ayanda Ngila, Nokuthula Mabaso and Lindokuhle Mnguni were assassinated at the eKhenena Commune.

The Commune has endured horrific levels of repression over a number of years, including numerous arrests on fakes charges. Bail has often been denied or delayed with the result that people have spent time in prison – up to six months – before charges are withdrawn. As we have noted before the local ANC, and in particular Samson Ngubane, have been able to direct the police on who to arrest and who not to arrest, and to openly work with the prosecuting authority in the court building.

Now Maphiwe Gasela, Landu Tshazi and Sniko Miya, who have all been previously arrested on bogus charges that were later withdrawn, have been arrested again. Gasela had her home burnt down the last time she came out of prison.

For a very long time the unlawful and violent evictions, the assaults, arrests and imprisonment on bogus charges, and the murders were carried out impunity with the local ANC, the local police and powerful people in the prosecuting authority working together.

However, after consistent resistance from our movement, building international solidarity and committed work from our lawyer, Mbali Khubeka, there have now been three arrests for the murders of our comrades. Sampson Ngubane Sam, his brother Mhlanganyelwa Ngubane and Samson son Khaya Ngubane are both currently in prison awaiting trial. However the impunity is not fully available. Although video footage that clearly shows one of the men who murdered Mnguni has been given to the police they have failed to make an arrest, and have instead bizarrely and cruelly accused Mnguni’s partner, who was herself shot in the attack, of being responsible for the murder.

Before the arrest a police officer called our lawyer and told her that she needed to bring Gasela, Tshazi and Miya in for questioning. The attorney took the three comrades to the Durban Central police stations. The investigating officer then charged three comrades for a murder committed in 2020. Our lawyer argued that there was no need to detain them as they had voluntarily come to the police station but the investigating officer (IO) ignored them and threw them in to the police cells.

We thought that they would be granted in bail when they appeared in the Durban Magistrates’ Court the next day, 18 November. However, we discovered that the IO had not done his paper work. The docket was only brought in to court at 10:00am. This meant that the prosecutor had not had a chance to look at the docket. It was only in the late afternoon when the three finally appeared before the magistrate. They were told that the court can only have bail hearing in January 2023.

The attorney argued that another court must be found for their bail hearing. Eventually the matter was adjourned to 13 December. At that time the IO had disappeared. It was clear that the state wanted the activists to spend Christmas in prison.

Samson Ngubane’s daughter, Ntokozo Ngubane, was up and down in court openly speaking to different police officers and court officials in our presence, just like her father would do before he was arrested. She was making calls and calls seeing that she was happy and it was going according to her plan.

It is a matter of record that Ntokozo has a history of lying-in court . She confessed in a sworn affidavit that she had lied in a statement that led to the arrest and imprisonment of our Deputy president, Mqaphelo Bonono, on the ridiculous charge of forming a conspiracy to kill state witnesses as a public meeting.

She faced no consequences for bearing false witness, for putting an innocent person in prison and wasting the time and resources of the court. Yes despite this she is still able to openly advise and engage people in the prosecuting authority, something that, of course, we would never be allowed to do.

We will not be surprised if she is a state witness in this particular matter. She vowed to see our three comrades in prison for Christmas, where the two men would be in the same prison as her father and two brothers.

In a normal society one would not need any intelligence to question why the same person is a complainant and a witness in every case brought against Abahlali, cases that have, in every instance, been thrown out of by the court because they are plainly bogus. Her conduct is plainly vexatious and malicious, yet she retains the power to have our members arrested at will.

We also know that in a normal society a person who hands over themselves over to the police is not refused bail. There is no doubt that if the three were politicians or rich people being brought by their lawyer to the police station they would have been charged and released on bail. We have seen many politicians such the former mayor of Durban, the former City Manager and the former MEC for Housing in KwaZulu-Natal being immediately granted bail after being arrested for serious crimes. They have never spent a night in police cells or been taken to prison.

This is yet another price that must be paid for being poor in our city.

Contact:

S’bu Zikode 083 5470 474
Bathabile Makhoba 081 360 2461