The police are making up stories about Durban businessman Prince Sifiso Zulu and are pursuing an agenda to score cheap political points, his attorney Wandile Mahlungulu said on Wednesday.
He released a statement to the media shortly after Zulu appeared in the Durban Regional Court on charges of culpable homicide.
”In almost a year the police have knowingly paraded false stories about our client’s involvement in the unfortunate car accident in which persons were injured,” he said.
”They have deliberately ignored the evidence … that our client was neither the driver nor a passenger in the vehicle in order to pursue a yet undisclosed agenda to tarnish the name and reputation of Prince Zulu and score cheap political points.”
Zulu faces two charges of culpable homicide after a hit-and-run accident in March 2008.
Zulu’s BMW X5 was involved in a hit-and-run accident with a Mitsubishi double-cab. Two members of the Soul’s Harbour Ministries Church were killed and 10 others injured.
Zulu was allegedly drunk at the time of the accident and initially denied being the driver of the vehicle.
He was arrested in June 2008 and later appeared in court. He was granted bail of R5 000.
Police, during their investigation, also discovered an outstanding warrant of arrest for Zulu for another drunk driving case in 2006.
The accused was later hospitalised after attempting to commit suicide.
He jumped off the second floor of his plush penthouse on the Point Waterfront. Before the plunge, he had also stabbed himself in the neck. He reportedly broke a limb in the fall.
In his statement, Mahlungulu also made reference to the alleged involvement in the matter of KwaZulu-Natal safety minister Bheki Cele.
”The police in their overzealous attempt to obtain some political mileage, have uttered false statements in which they have alleged that … Bheki Cele improperly intervened in the case in an effort to stop the investigation of the matter.
”This has now been exposed as a complete fabrication,” he said.
Mahlungulu said the Democratic Alliance (DA) had also falsely accused Cele of intervening ”on behalf of our client at the police station after the accident. This was again later exposed as a despicable lie.”
The DA had called for an inquiry into Cele’s involvement in the case.
He also accused the police and media of being ”more interested in far-flung political conspiracy theories that sought to turn a tragic vehicle accident into a political case”.
He said some police officers, who would be exposed later, were in a rush to claim celebrity status.
Mahlungulu noted that the case was no longer about securing justice for the victims of the tragedy.
”It has been reduced by a political grandstanding by the NPA [National Prosecuting Authority] which has already announced its intention to prosecute at all cost.”
He claimed that police were aware that Zulu was not the driver of the vehicle on the night in question and that ”he is innocent”.
Mahlungulu also stressed that most bakkies ”are not designed for carrying passengers”, in an apparent reference to the Mitsubishi double-cab involved in the accident.
”On behalf of our client we stand ready to conduct a robust defence …” said Mahlungulu.
The young-looking, recently appointed defence attorney asked the court on Wednesday for more time to consult with his client.
He said he required more information on the case from the state.
Magistrate Thomas Nhleko set Zulu’s trial down for August 3 to 27.
Zulu is out on extended bail. — Sapa