THURSDAY, 8.00AM
POET MZWAKHE MBULI, ever the publicity master, phoned the Sowetan newspaper from his jail cell last night to claim police framed him with bank robbery charges (see below). He said he was “asked by these two guys” to take them to Pretoria, which he did, and stopped his car willingly when asked to by police because he had nothing to hide. “There was neither a roadblock nor a car chase,” he said. He added that police had failed to investigate an attempt on his life in October last year.
WEDNESDAY, 6.00PM
MZWAKHE Mbuli has nothing to do with the Spice Girls concert this weekend, say the directors of the Nations Trust charity behind the event. Mbuli claimed in a bail application last night (see below) that the concert will suffer because he is the organiser.
Trustee Beverley Bernard said Mbuli had been invited to perform at one point, but had been left off the final programme. He had never been asked to help organise. “Shame, poor Mzwakhe. If I was in prison I’d also think of any excuse to get out,” she said.
The charity trust, set up during the last Royal visit, aims to help unemployed youths find jobs.
TUESDAY, 6.00PM
‘PEOPLE’S POET’ Mzwakhe Mbuli, who made his name as a ‘struggle’ icon in the eighties, was caught robbing a bank on Tuesday. Mbuli and two others were caught robbing a bank in Waverley, Pretoria with three handguns and a grenade. They had driven no further than 200 metres in the poet’s BMW when they were caught, and R15 000 in notes were recovered.
The men appeared in court last night, but were refused bail, despite Mbuli’s request to be allowed out because he is organising Saturday’s Spice Girls concert, to be attended by Prince Charles. Mbuli’s greatest moment was when he delivered a praise poem to Nelson Mandela on his inauguration as president.