Lawyers Advocate Matthew Mphahlwa and Asanda Mgangatho speak to students.
Malibongwe Dayimani
- Students accused of torching a University of Fort Hare building on Sunday have been released on bail.
- They had been in custody since the night of the violence.
- The Alice Magistrate’s Court noted that the students did not have previous convictions or pending cases and were not flight risks.
Students accused of torching a University of Fort Hare building over the weekend have been released on bail on warning, as they have no criminal records and do not pose a flight risk.
The thirteen accused allegedly ran amok at the Alice campus, burning the foyer of the indoor sports centre, looting the food court, smashing windows of the computer lab, and setting furniture alight on Sunday evening.
Students and parents in the courtroom celebrated on Thursday when Alice Magistrate Luyolo Vena released all the accused on bail.
The accused – Mmiselo Mthonjeni, 25, Sifiso Gogi, 25, Ntokozo Mandazi, 22, Mafuza Ningi, 18, Noluyolo Madikizela, 20, Subatha Qumbisa, 19, Enam Gift Ntlonti, 22, Shalom Fuseni, 21, Khanyi Poswa, 22, Aseza Cingo, 24, Siphe Dike, 22, Sinovuyo Ngqwangi, 19, Asiphile Tshwati, 22 – all face charges of malicious damage to property, housebreaking, and theft.
Delivering his judgment, Vena said:
I have taken into account that the suspects are all students with no previous convictions or pending cases and the majority are residents of the province, with only one who has a Port Shepstone address in KZN. He has submitted he is not a flight risk.
Mid-year examinations are currently underway at the university and the accused students have already missed some of their exams.
While the university had previously said that five of the accused were not students, Vena noted that all were students except for Fuseni, who hails from Zimbabwe. The rest are all South African citizens.
Gqeberha lawyer Jose Meinie represented Fuseni, while Asanda Mgangatho in association with advocate Matthew Mphahlwa, represented the others.
Vena postponed the case to 28 July for further police investigation and warned the accused to present themselves on that day.
State prosecutor Zikhona Mzizi, who did not oppose the release of the accused, wanted the court to impose bail of R1 000 for each of the accused.
READ | University of Fort Hare building set on fire amid student protests, hours before start of exams
Mzizi told the court that the amount she proposed was reasonable considering that the costs associated with the fire damages exceeded R700 000.
Mgangatho in turn argued that the accused were all unemployed students and could not afford to pay any bail amount.
He told the court that his clients stayed at verified addresses on campus in Alice and were not flight risks.
The SRC and some students charged for allegedly burning a University of Fort Hare building chatting outside court on Thursday after their release.
News24 Malibonwge Dayimani
Vena said that the police had verified all the addresses of the accused and that the court did not view them as flight risks.
He said he would not impose a bail amount because the accused were most likely studying with the help of National Student Financial Aid Scheme [NSFAS] and did not have money.
“You are all released on warning,” he said.