Glenmore activist Velile Ben Mafani will spend at least a month in custody before he has an opportunity to defend his decision to repeatedly break the windows of the Grahamstown High Court.
Glenmore activist Velile Ben Mafani will spend at least a month in custody before he has an opportunity to defend his decision to repeatedly break the windows of the Grahamstown High Court.
Mafani appeared briefly in the magistrate's court in Grahamstown this week after he was remanded in custody for failing to pay a fine. Magistrate Makhetho Pheko found Mafani guilty of failing to appear in court last month. Pheko ordered Mafani to pay R1 500 or spend three months in prison for failing to appear in court on 12 September.
On that occasion Mafani told the court that he had not been able to attend his scheduled court hearing because he was consulting with his ancestors.
The last time Mafani's case was postponed, it was in order for him to obtain dockets. He had opted to represent himself in the main trial.
The main case is in connection with Mafani's regularly repeated protest action – the throwing of a brick through a window of the high court in Grahamstown.
When he told the court he could not afford to pay R40 to obtain the dockets, he was advised to obtain them through a legal aid attorney.
He agreed to obtain the papers through the lawyer, saying once he'd got the papers he would represent himself.
Mafani was granted the papers in court this week.
The case was postponed to 16 November for plea and trial. Mafani remains in custody until the case resumes.
