Video footage refutes claim by Lungisa
AS Nelson Mandela Bay ANC councillor Andile Lungisa appeared briefly in court yesterday for the assault of a fellow councillor during a brawl last year, it emerged that his counter claim that he had also been beaten would not be prosecuted.
The cases involving Lungisa, 39, and Ward 19 councillor Gamalihleli Maqula, 28, both of whom are facing charges of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, were postponed to March 30.
Lungisa is accused of hitting DA councillor Rano Kayser over the head with a glass jug, while Maqula is accused of stabbing DA chief whip Werner Senekal in the back with a sharp object during a council brawl in October.
Sharply dressed in blue shirts and blazers, the two appeared separately as the cases are being handled as separate investigations.
In court, the prosecution said it still needed a statement from a witness before it could proceed, while in Maqula’s matter there was still video evidence outstanding.
The appearance of both men took less than 10 minutes as their anxious ANC comrades waited outside the courtroom.
There was a sigh of relief from the group – among them ANC caucus leader Bicks Ndoni – when the two left Court 27.
Meanwhile, the national prosecuting authority said Lungisa’s counter-claim that Kayser had assaulted him had been withdrawn as the video evidence differed from his version of events.
“There were three counter cases that were opened,” NPA regional spokesman Tsepo Ndwalaza said yesterday.
“A decision was made by the [senior public prosecutor] not to prosecute two of those cases as what the complainants said was different from what was on the video footage taken during the council brawl.”
Asked if Lungisa’s complaint was among those that had been withdrawn, Ndwalaza said it was.
Lungisa said he was unaware that his complaint would not be prosecuted. “We are still waiting for feedback,” he said.
“I mean, if you withdraw the case, you speak to the people who opened the case – and no one has done that.”
Ndwalaza said a new investigating officer would be assigned to the assault GBH case against Lungisa as the previous investigator was also involved in probing the case in which Lungisa was the complainant.
“The senior public prosecutor realised at the time that if the investigating officer was going to deal with Lungisa as both the accused and the complainant, that would lead to a conflict,” Ndwalaza said.
“There was a need to change the investigating officer.
“A new investigating officer was assigned to deal with the matter to avoid such issues.”