Durban — Former Ukhozi FM presenter Ngizwe Mchunu, an alleged instigator of the July 2021 unrest, said he was over the moon that he had been acquitted in a trial that had dragged on for two years.
Speaking outside the Randburg Magistrate’s Court in Gauteng on Friday, Mchunu said his acquittal was proof that the law was above everything.
He said the day marked the beginning of war against poverty and political manipulation.
Mchunu was charged with instigating the 2021 riots and violating the Covid-19 restrictions.
Mchunu thanked former president Jacob Zuma, who attended the hearing to support him, as well as politicians, traditional leaders and businessmen who had stood by him. He singled out ANC KZN chairperson Siboniso Duma and provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo for their support and thanked businesswoman Shauwn Mkhize for hiring a private jet for him when he feared for his life and needed a hideout.
“This case cost me more than R1.5 million because to travel here cattle had to be sold. Even people who helped me had to empty their pockets for me and amabutho (Zulu warriors) to travel. It’s not easy to travel from Durban to come here (Johannesburg) and find accommodation for every day of this trial,” he said.
Mchunu’s acquittal as one of the instigators came after the case against Germiston businesswoman Zamaswazi Zinhle Majozi was struck from the roll in March last year following several postponements by the State since her arrest in August 2021.
Another alleged instigator, lawyer Ike Khumalo, is out on R3000 bail.
Chad Thomas, an organised and financial crimes investigator from IRS Forensic Investigations, said although there was an element of political opportunism that triggered some of the unrest, criminal elements took full advantage of the chaos.
“We cannot let this unrest go unchallenged and the failure to prosecute those responsible sets the wrong tone by the State,” said Thomas.
In March a Durban man, Mbuso Moloi, pleaded guilty to theft after stealing a basket of items from a Woolworths store in Davenport during the riots. The court heard that Moloi and his friends were driving around with the intention of buying goods. However, he saw people emerging from the shop and in the heat of the moment he stopped his car, filled a basket with goods and left without paying.
Sunday Tribune