The case against nine men who allegedly dumped faeces at Cape Town’s airport has been transferred to a Bellville court.
|||Cape Town - Nine men who allegedly dumped human waste at Cape Town International Airport appeared in the Bellville Magistrate's Court on Monday.
The men, all out on bail, were told their case had been transferred to the Bellville Regional Court.
They would return to court on October 23.
The men are Loyiso Nkohla, Andile Lili, Yanga Mjingwana, Ben Dyani, Jaji Diniso, Bongile Zanazo, Thembela Mbanjwa, Bantubakhe Mqobodiya, and Wandisile Mkapa.
They allegedly dumped 10 buckets of faeces at the airport's departures terminal on June 25. They are charged under the Civil Aviation Act, and face up to 30 years in prison if found guilty.
Nkohla is an ANC councillor and Lili is a former councillor. They were out on a warning for a similar offence at a Cape Town train station at the time of their arrest. Seven of the men were initially denied bail, but were later released following an application in the Western Cape High Court.
They were ordered not to convene or attend a protest without authorisation, to refrain from threatening, intimidating, or interfering with members of the public, and to not damage public property.
Nkohla, Diniso, Mbanjwa, Mjingwana, and Zanazo recently had their ANC membership temporarily suspended pending a disciplinary hearing outcome, related to sanitation protests in the province.
“This is the result of continuous defiance of the organisational instruction to desist from engaging in activities that bring the African National Congress into disrepute,” provincial secretary Songezo Mjongile said at the time.
Lili was expelled as a councillor in March after being found guilty of taking part in the illegal demolition of houses and for making derogatory comments to Khayelitsha residents.
The ANC suspended him for bringing the party into disrepute.
He is challenging the expulsion in the Western Cape High Court.
Nkohla was given a three-year suspended sentence last year for disrupting President Jacob Zuma's centenary speech at the Good Hope Centre.
Cape Town has been hit by a number of human waste dumping incidents in the past few months by people protesting about sanitation in informal settlements.
Many believed the portable flush toilets (PFTs) being rolled out by the city were no better than the bucket system. - Sapa