The trial of one of the alleged instigators of last year’s civil unrest has been provisionally postponed to the 16th of September when he will plea.
Bonginkosi Khanyile appeared in the Durban Regional Court on Friday on charges of incitement to commit violence and contravention of the COVID-19 regulations.
His trial was expected to start this week but the defence requested a further postponement.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) KwaZulu-Natal Spokesperson Natasha Rakisson-Kara, “On Monday, when we came to court the state was ready to proceed with the trial. Today, after various arguments between the defence and the state, the defence had brought another application to further postpone the matter.
The court granted the postponement to the 16th of September 22 for plea. The court warned the accused that the matter should start because it is in the public interest and in the interest of justice.”
Reports that Twitter helped the Hawks to track down July unrest instigators: Adv. Nthatisi Asare
Khanyile is among those who were arrested last year for allegedly instigating violence during the July unrest.
He is facing charges of incitement to commit violence and contravening COVID-19 regulations that prohibited meetings at the time.
During his bail application, the state said there was video footage of Khanyile addressing people at different places.
Since the end of last week, the Hawks have arrested another 26 alleged instigators who are believed to have worked as a team to incite violence. They are being tried separately.
