Durban - It’s been a year since the looting and civil unrest. However, there were over 200 people who died.
This week, the National Prosecuting Authority said they received eight murder cases pertaining to the July unrest.
“Of these eight, we declined to prosecute two cases due to insufficient evidence, and one was withdrawn as the only witness couldn’t be traced,” said Advocate Elaine Zungu, the Director of Public Prosecutions in KZN.
Explaining further, Zungu said during the July unrest in KwaZulu-Natal, the NPA’s strategy was that all murder dockets be sent to the High Court section for guidance and possible prosecution in these cases.
Zungu said from the five cases, three have been indicted to the Durban High Court.
The status of the cases are as follows:
– 25 July 2022 for pre-trial
– 21 November 2022 to 02 December 2022 for trial
– 23 February 2022 to 26 March 2022 for trial
The NPA said the other two are at a regional court level.
The trial of Ndumiseni Khetha Zuma, allegedly linked to the torching of the Brookside Mall in Pietermaritzburg during the unrest, is set to begin in the Pietermaritzburg Regional Court next month.
The trial of Bonginkosi Khanyile is also set to begin in the Durban Regional Court next month.
The #FeesMustFall activist was released on R5 000 bail following charges of incitement to commit public violence during the unrest in KwaZulu-Natal.
Two other people have received five year jail terms for their part in the looting:
Lungelo Nthenga, 24, was jailed to an effective five years imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to three counts of theft pertaining to the looting in July 2021 in the Mobeni industrial area. In his plea, Nthenga said that he was a taxi driver, and during the unrest, he used his vehicle to transport people to the Mobeni business industrial area on South Coast Road so they could loot.
He was arrested when his vehicle was stopped at a roadblock during a stop and search operation conducted by the police in order to deter looting conduct. His vehicle was loaded with tinned fish, rice, as well as items from the surrounding warehouses that were looted.
In a separate incident, Nhlanhla Samkelo Mthembu, 31, was also jailed to five years direct imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to theft of a motor vehicle belonging to a business in Mobeni.
In his plea statement, Mthembu said that he and his friend had come across the persons who had originally taken a Toyota Hino truck, valued at approximately R350 000, during the looting.
He said they were having difficulties driving the vehicle.
Mthembu said he and his friend assisted them and drove the truck, heading towards the Esikhawini area to avoid detection.
When they got to Esikhawini, the other occupants jumped off the truck and fled, leaving him in the truck. Since the truck was fitted with a tracking device, Mthembu was arrested while in the truck.
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