By Luvuyo Mjekula
Former Makana Municipality ward councillor Luyanda Sakata and three other men – all charged with murder – are due to appear in the Makhanda Magistrate’s Court for a formal bail application today (Friday).
The bail hearing was due to proceed on Wednesday but had to be postponed because there was no water at the local court.
The presiding magistrate cited “infrastructure problems” as his reason for postponing the matter but also noted that there was no interpreter present in court. This, the magistrate said, was an essential element of the case as it had the potential to end up at the High Court.
He kept the four men in custody.
The four – Sakata, a former ward 10 ANC councillor from Tantyi, Mphitizeli Diko, 63, from Extension 6 and Xolisile Mlatsha, 54 and Vuyo Madinda, 42, both from Extension 7, stand accused of the murder of Siviwe Sajini.
They allegedly hit Sajini, 34, with sticks and pipes in Ethembeni on 17 March 2023.
He died of a head injury due to blunt force, according to postmortem results.
In a crammed courtroom B on Wednesday, the presiding magistrate warned the four men – “I must keep you in custody in a schedule 6 case unless you give me exceptional circumstances that satisfy me that you can be released on bail.”
State prosecutor Mbulelo Moyake had earlier told the magistrate that the state would oppose bail against Sakata and Diko, who were facing a schedule 6 charge, but not against Mlatsha and Madinda, who were charged under schedule 5 because they were essentially first offenders, while Sakata and Diko had a pending murder case.
However, after the magistrate’s intervention, changes were made to the charges, and, as per the charge sheet, all four accused would now face a schedule 6 murder charge.
Relatives of the accused men and their supporters packed the court in solidarity with them.
As the men were led down to the cells, one supporter shouted: “Be strong, we love you.”
A show of support was also visible outside the court, with a group of residents singing and dancing while a petition for their release also made the rounds.
A supporter who asked not to be named said: “We are here to support them because they have nothing. They were fighting crime that is taking place in Makhanda. They were helping the residents of Makhanda but they are the only ones who have been arrested.
“We want them to be released because if they are kept in custody, there will be damage out there [as crime will get out of hand],” the young woman said.
It is expected that even larger numbers of supporters will be in court today.
