Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen says he welcomes the arrest of alleged instigators of the recent violence and looting in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, but hopes police have solid cases against them. In the past weeks, police have arrested a number of alleged instigators of the unrest.
Steenhuisen says this shouldn’t be done for the sake of publicity.
“I hope those responsible are brought to justice. They caused huge damage to KwaZulu-Natal and to some extent Gauteng, billions of rands of property and they made people scared and afraid in those provinces. I hope the instigators are brought to justice. But I hope police have built a solid case against these individuals. The last thing you want is a case for publicity sake, an arrest for publicity sake, and there is no solid case to back it up, because that thing erodes trust of the people in the police – authority to bring the perpetrators to justice.”
Meanwhile, spokesperson for alleged instigator Bonginkosi Khyanyile has warned of chaos should the Durban Magistrate’s Court fail to grant bail to the Fees Must Fall activist. Philani Nduli was speaking inside the courtroom just before Khanyile’s bail proceedings resumed.
Khanyile, is facing five charges, including inciting violence and being part of an illegal gathering.
He was arrested two weeks ago in Johannesburg by the Hawks and was escorted to KwaZulu-Natal. During the previous proceedings, the court was shown videos of Khanyile addressing people on different occasions, encouraging them to support former president Jacob Zuma, who is currently serving a 15-month jail term for contempt of court.
The footage is believed to have been posted on social media during last month’s unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. However, Nduli has accused law enforcement agencies of selectively arresting only those who were vocal about their support for former president Jacob Zuma.
In the video below, Bonginkosi Khanyile is back in court:
