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)
Just in: #FeesMustFall activist Kanya Cekeshe’s bail judgment results
#FeesMustFall activist, Kanya Cekeshe denied bail.
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)
Bail results for #FeesMustFall activist
#FeesMustFall activist Kanya Cekeshe had his bail hearing on 14 October 2019 for malicious damage to property. The Economic Freedom Fighters’ (EFF) student command was seen picketing outside the court in a call for Cekeshe’s release.
Magistrates Theunis Carstens granted Cekeshe condonation. However, his bail was denied and the leave to appeal his conviction was dismissed.
His family was in attendance and a heavy security presence was seen in court. Attendees had to sign a register and wear red wrist bands.
The case started at 9:00 and judgment was adjourned for 14:00. The judgment of his bail hearing was initially reserved by the judge on Wednesday, 9 October 2019 at the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court.
Cekeshe was the only #FeesMustFall activist who was still in custody. The state opposed bail on the basis that he wasn’t a student at Wits University at the time of the violent protests.
State prosecutor David Mothibi insisted that the written confession submitted by Cekeshe was accurate and should stand.
#FeesMustFall activist’s previous counsel
However, Cekeshe’s lawyer Tembeka Ngcukaitobi rebutted saying his legal representation at the time had failed to represent him well. Ngcukaitobi also mentioned how the prosecution had failed to produce any video evidence.
The suspect’s lawyer said the still images which were presented as evidence provided no conclusive proof of any wrongdoing. Speaking against the #FeesMustFall activist’s previous counsel, Ngcukaitobi stated:
“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, Lawyer
Cekeshe’s lawyer wanted bail
Ngcukaitobi initially wanted his client to be released on bail immediately. The lawyer also wanted a leave to appeal the magistrate’s decision to sentence the #FeesMustFall activist to eight years’ imprisonment.
The suspect’s close friend, Nkanyiso Ngqulunga, said Cekeshe’s mother was nervous and very happy to see her son since she hadn’t seen him for a while. Ngqulunga added:
“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
EFF supports #FeesMustFall activist
Speaking after Wednesday’s proceedings, the national spokesperson of the 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
The #FeesMustFall activist has been held at the Leeuwkop Prison in Sunninghill since 2017. He’s on an eight-year sentence for allegedly setting alight a police vehicle, a charge he initially pleaded guilty to.
