FeesMustFall

South Africa – Johannesburg – 09 October 2019-
The bail judgement of the only #FeesMustFall activist who is still in custody, Kanya Cekeshe was on Wednesday reserved for judgement at the Johannesburg Magistrate court.
Cekeshe has been held at the Leeuwkop Prison, in Bryanston, since 2017, on an eight-year sentence for malicious damage to property, a charge he pleaded guilty to but not single handadly burning the police vehicle at the height of the Fees Must Fall protests in 2016.
Picture: Nhlanhla Phillips/African News Agency(ANA)

FeesMustFall activist’s bail hearing reserved by judge

The matter has been postponed to 14 October 2019.

FeesMustFall

South Africa – Johannesburg – 09 October 2019-
The bail judgement of the only #FeesMustFall activist who is still in custody, Kanya Cekeshe was on Wednesday reserved for judgement at the Johannesburg Magistrate court.
Cekeshe has been held at the Leeuwkop Prison, in Bryanston, since 2017, on an eight-year sentence for malicious damage to property, a charge he pleaded guilty to but not single handadly burning the police vehicle at the height of the Fees Must Fall protests in 2016.
Picture: Nhlanhla Phillips/African News Agency(ANA)

The bail judgment of the only #FeesMustFall activist who is still in custody was on Wednesday, 9 October 2019. It was reserved at the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court. 

The state opposed bail on the basis that Kanya Cekeshe was not a student at Wits University at the time of the violent protests. State prosecutor David Mothibi maintained that the written confession submitted by Cekeshe was accurate and should stand.

FeesMustFall activist’s former lawyer inadequate

However, Cekeshe’s lawyer Tembeka Ngcukaitobi told the court that his legal representation at the time did not represent him well. He also pointed out that the prosecution failed to produce any video evidence and that the still images being used as evidence against him provided no conclusive proof of any wrongdoing.

Ngcukaitobi criticised Cekeshe’s previous counsel saying:

“The counsel was always late and would arrive to proceedings after 12pm. He advised his client to plead guilty without informing him that there’s a possibility he would be sentenced to eight years. He later revealed that he was in fact a civil lawyer and was only 20% equipped for criminal law.” 

Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, Kanya Cekeshe’s lawyer

Cekeshe’s case postponed

The matter has been postponed to 14 October 2019. Cekeshe’s legal counsel want him to be released on bail immediately and for leave to appeal the magistrate’s decision to sentence him to eight years’ imprisonment.

His close friend, Nkanyiso Ngqulunga, said Cekeshe’s mother was nervous and very happy to see her son, given that she had not seen him for a very long time. Ngqulunga said:

“We are very happy today with the proceedings even though the state came unprepared as usual. They could not critique or argue the points that were raised by Ngcukaitobi. We raised mistakes and defects in the transcripts as well as discrepancies in the sentencing procedure.” 

Nkanyiso Ngqulunga, Cekeshe’s close friend

EFF’s Ndlozi supports FeesMustFall activist

Speaking after proceedings, the national spokesperson of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, said:

“He [Cekeshe] was fighting for an affordable education. The #FeesMustFall struggle was a struggle even for the unborn – that a black child may be able to be born in a country where the doors of learning are open and are free.”

Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) national spokesperson

Ndlozi added:

“He wasn’t on the picket lines of Nyaope and drugs and alcohol abuse. Even the police know, they arrested him at #FeesMustFall not at a Casper Nyovest concert but on the picket lines of those black children who are saying we don’t want to be judged on our ability to pay but on our intelligent capabilities.”

Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) national spokesperson

Cekeshe facing eight-year sentence

Cekeshe has been held at the Leeuwkop Prison in Sunninghill since 2017 on an eight-year sentence for malicious damage to property, a charge he pleaded guilty to at the height of the protests.

By African News Agency; Editing by Desiree Erasmus