The Directorate of Public Prosecutions is pursuing its case against the alleged ringleaders of Cape Town’s so-called “poo protests”.
|||The Directorate of Public Prosecutions is pursuing its case against the alleged ringleaders of Cape Town’s so-called “poo protests”, along with a third man, the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court heard on Friday.
The two alleged ringleaders are former ANC councillor Andile Lili, and ANC proportional councillor Loyiso Nkohla. The third man is Thembela Mbanjwa.
Appearing in the same court on Friday were about 160 of a total 183 people who were arrested at the Woodstock station in June, while on their way to the provincial legislature in Cape Town to dump human waste outside Western Cape Premier Helen Zille’s offices.
Arrest warrants were issued for the rest of the accused, who failed to appear on Friday.
Many of the accused and their supporters toyi-toyied, blew whistles and sang protest songs in front of the court for hours. Some carried placards saying “Portable toilets tender belongs to DA and Helen Zille”, and “We reject portable toilets”.
They also shouted slogans denouncing Zille and Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille.
Both cases were postponed to October 25.
The charge sheet in the case against Lili, Nkohla and Mbanjwa also accused them of contravening the National Environmental Management Waste Act 59 of 2008 on June 3 at the provincial legislature in Wale Street through pollution and endangering health.
According to the indictment, the accuseds’ housing estate homes
“are provided with portable lavatories by the city.
A dispute and a grievance has arisen between the accused and other residents of the informal housing estates and the city over the perceived neglect of the sanitation in these estates. This perceived neglect included infrequent and irregular removal of human waste”. - Saturday Argus
henriette.geldenhuys@inl.co.za