The bail system being applied by KwaZulu- Natal courts is contributing to a rise in political tension, reports Ann Eveleth
INKATHA Freedom Party leader Biva Nkwenyana appeared in court last month in connection with three separate murder cases – including one allegedly committed after his first court appearance – but he is still out on bail.
Nkwenyana’s alleged accomplice in one of the murders, Vusi Zwane, was also released on bail but was re-arrested last week after injuring himself during an alleged armed robbery attempt.
Nkwenyana and Zwane are two of dozens of violence suspects released on bail in KwaZulu-Natal every year. Their cases, however, demonstrate the gaps in the province’s criminal justice system which allow political violence to continue.
Nkwenyana received bail for the first time early last month after a KwaMsane magistrate recused himself from the case and it was referred to Empangeni.
Nkwenyana is the IFP representative on the KwaMsane Community Policing Forum and crowds of his supporters arrived at court for his bail hearing, Natal Violence Monitor Mary de Haas said this week.
He was released on R3 000 bail in his first case, only to be rearrested at the court in connection with a separate case, for which the same magistrate immediately granted bail. A week later Nkwenyana was granted bail for a murder allegedly committed while he was out on bail for the first two cases.
Nkwenyana’s lawyer announced in court that police members would be called to give evidence in support of his bail application. This allegedly included the KwaMsane police station commander Captain Dlamini, whose name appeared in the Transitional Executive Council report on hit squads in 1994, De Haas said.
These releases were authorised despite investigating officers and witnesses having testified about Nkwen-yana’s danger to the community. “The lives of witnesses, their families and properties have been placed in great danger,” said De Haas.
“All of this happened despite strong arguments against bail by [North Coast investigator Captain Mandlenkosi] Vilikazi.
“The magistrate says the case against them is not very strong, but at this stage if you are pursuing charges against them and they are a potential threat to the community, there is certainly enough reason to hold them.”
De Haas said she had recently received information that potential witnesses in the cases could be targeted, and Nkwenyana has allegedly organised a march against a local trader believed to have played a role in his arrest.
De Haas recounted the case in response to queries about rising tensions in the province in the run-up to the Christmas holidays. “There is no sense sending out extra people once a year if you are not going to put the perpetrators behind bars and keep them there,” she said.
“The entire bail and justice system needs serious attention. Generally speaking, the police don’t argue strongly enough against bail. But in this case, a policeman who argued against it met a magistrate who ignored the legislation about tighter bail conditions. The Department of Justice is a danger to people’s safety if it lets murder suspects out on bail.”
Network of Independent Monitors (NIM) South Coast representative Selvan Chetty said the failure of the courts to deny bail to suspects arrested in connection with last year’s Shobashobane massacre was one of the main reasons for the resurgence of tensions in the area since June.
“Out of 128 political violence suspects arrested by Bushy Englebrecht’s [special investigation] unit early this year, only five are still behind bars. If people facing multiple murder charges are out on bail, the community won’t want to talk about giving evidence,” he said.