By Phila-Nathi Mapisa
Luyanda Sakata, chairperson of Grahamstown Anti-Crime group, walked out of the Makhanda Magistrate’s Court a free man on Tuesday after the court delivered a Section 174 verdict, finding insufficient evidence to proceed with murder charges against him.
The case brings closure to a harrowing 19-month ordeal that saw the community activist spend three months behind bars for a crime he maintains he never committed – the murder of a man he says he had never even seen before.
A shocking arrest
“I was so shocked when I faced murder charges of a person I had never even seen before,” Sakata told Grocott’s Mail in an exclusive interview alongside his attorney, Mfundo Ntshwaxa.
“Having multiple police vans, police officers with torches terrorising your home with your children and partner at 5am is traumatising,” Sakata recounted. “I felt that I was treated like a hardcore criminal, more so as an innocent man.”
Three months behind bars
After the Magistrate’s Court denied him bail, Sakata spent three months in prison before the High Court granted his bail appeal on 24 March 2024. The conditions were harsh and degrading: sleeping on cement floors, enduring periods without water, and sharing cells with the very criminals his anti-crime initiative had helped put away.
“I couldn’t sleep at night and tried to take naps during the day as I was truly so fearful for my life,” Sakata said. “I truly believe that there was a plot against me to get me in prison and leave me to die there.”
The legal battle
The case moved through the courts with trial dates set for 30 September and 1 and 3 October 2025. However, on 15 October 2025, the magistrate delivered a Section 174 verdict of the Criminal Procedure Act, finding that there was insufficient evidence to sustain the charges.
Attorney Mfundo Ntshwaxa, who represented Sakata pro bono, explained his motivation for taking the case: “I wanted to assist Sakata. I admire the work they do in the community and in my capacity wanted to help him. I have lived experiences of the anti-crime group being of great assistance when I and local schools needed their help.”
Ntshwaxa worked alongside Advocate Lutho Jolobe and the entire legal team to secure Sakata’s freedom.
No winners in this case
Despite the acquittal, both Sakata and Ntshwaxa emphasised a sad reality. “Although they were acquitted of these charges and they are dropped, there is no winner in cases like these, because at the end of the day someone is dead and the killer is unknown because due diligence was never done,” Ntshwaxa said.
Mending fractured relationships
Sakata revealed that his relationship with Joza Police Station, once collaborative and productive, had deteriorated prior to his arrest. “I never knew that the deterioration of my relationship with Joza SAPS would have led to such,” he said.
He disclosed that the anti-crime group had raised grievances about Colonel Nomsa Mtshagi with the Eastern Cape Department of Community Safety’s District Manager for Sarah Baartman District, Mncedisi Boma. However, Sakata says efforts have since been made to cultivate and mend the relationship between the anti-crime group and the police station.
The fear of a criminal record
Beyond the physical hardships of imprisonment, Sakata feared the permanent stigma of a criminal record. “I hated the prospect of having a criminal record. Despite the terrible stigma it holds, it would interfere with the good I’m trying to do,” he said.
Community support
Throughout his ordeal, it was the community that sustained Sakata. From prison visits to monetary contributions for bail and legal fees, from public support to simply standing by him, the community rallied around their leader.
“I have unwavering thanks to the community that stood by me, the visits in prison, the monetary contributions to pay for bail and legal fees for the advocate, the support, looking out for me,” Sakata said with emotion.
This outpouring of support is what keeps him committed to his work, despite the challenges he has faced. “It’s the community that stood by me that makes me not ever want to quit this work of activism that I’m doing, despite all these challenges. Sisebenzela abantu abasweleyo,” he said.
