Alleged SACP shooters to plead not guilty
Five men accused of gunning down a 68-year-old man at a SACP meeting in Inchanga last month will plead not guilty.
|||Durban - Five men accused of gunning down a 68-year-old man at a South African Communist Party meeting last month told the Camperdown Magistrate's Court that they intend fighting the charges.
In affidavits, read to the court by defence advocate Shane Matthews on Wednesday, all five accused indicated they would be pleading not guilty to charges of murder and attempted murder.
Ahead of the bail hearing, about 200 African National Congress (ANC) supporters gathered outside the court. The group carried placards and sung songs outside the court building and were watched closely by members of the South African Police Service.
The five men are accused of gunning down Phillip Dlamini, 68, and wounding another four people at a SACP meeting held on January 24 at the Kandokweni sports ground in Fredville in Inchanga. They each face a charge of murder and attempted murder.
The five accused men are Bafanyama Shange, Buka Shozi, Sifiso Madondo, Zamakwake Shozi and Nhlanhla Majola.
At their first appearance last week, prosecutor Neville Loubser said the State intended opposing bail. However on Wednesday he backtracked and said the State would not be opposing bail.
At the time of the shooting, an ANC meeting to nominate candidates for ward four was underway about three kilometres from the SACP gathering.
Another man, Bongani Hlatshwayo, was also killed in the incident and several cars were damaged.
The ANC, SACP, and the Congress of South African Trade Unions are part of a long-standing tripartite alliance. But tensions between the ANC and the SACP have been high in KwaZulu-Natal with the SACP's provincial executive committee announcing earlier this month that it was pulling out of all processes to nominate ANC candidates for the upcoming local government elections.
The protesters outside the court carried numerous placards, that took aim at SACP provincial chairman James Nxumalo, who hails from Inchanga and is the eThekwini Metro mayor. At the end of last year he was ousted as chairman of the ANC's eThekwini region.
The placards read: “We want bail”, “Away with James Nxumalo from Inchanga”, and “James 1, Zandile Gumede 284”. The latter placard made reference to the number of votes by which Nxumalo was defeated at the ANC's eThekwini regional conference late last year.
The small courtroom was packed with SACP members, who were wearing t-shirts emblazoned with the face of Phillip Dlamini.
ANA