Former Nelson Mandela Bay African National Congress (ANC) councillor Andile Lungisa’s supporters are singing revolutionary songs outside the North End Correctional Services Centre in Port Elizabeth as he is expected to start his two year sentence on Thursday.
Lungisa was sentenced to two years imprisonment for assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm.
This after he smashed a Democratic Alliance (DA) Councillor Ryno Kayser with a glass jug on the head in 2016 during a council meeting.
His attorneys have filed papers to the Constitutional Court to appeal the ruling of the Supreme Court of Appeal.
Lungisa is expected to spend the weekend at the facility as his bail application will be heard on the 21st of September.
ANC member Maki Feni says they are outside the facility to show solidarity to Lungisa.
“In his incarceration we are saying we are with him up until the last day. The reason we are here is that we are saying to the authorities, we are here with Andile even if we are not inside, we believe in justice and justice that has been delayed is justice that has been denied.”
A group of Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) members from the Nelson Mandela Bay region have also joined ANC members in support of Lungisa.
EFF Regional Spokesperson Luvuyo Ponase says: “We are seeing that it is beyond the issue of the council meeting, but it has gone further to be the persecution of the individual. Therefore even in our moving away from the ANC we made it clear that in the EFF or any other organisation, we would not want discipline to be used to push narrow political agendas. That is why we are here. At the same time we know Andile Lungisa, we worked with him in council. Some of us even know him from our days in the youth league where he was our deputy president.”
In the video below, supporters say they are behind Lungisa until the very end:
Mixed reactions on social media
According to some local media reports, Lungisa says he is not well suited for prison.
Users on social media have expressed mixed reactions as Lungisa is set to begin his jail term, as seen in the tweets below:
As Andile Lungisa starts his 2 year sentence today for his bar like brawl in Nelson Mandela Bay council chambers, one cannot stop but think he could have finished the sentence by now if he had not engaged in his Stalingrad tactic.??
— Malume ??❤️ (@bozzie_t) September 17, 2020
Did Andile Lungisa commit any crime or fraud?
Was he involved in stealing any money meant for the poor, GBV, racketeering, Money Laundering or rape?
Can somebody please highlight me..
Seems like this is Political, WHY charges an eve after the open letter he wrote to the ANC?
— SG of Azania (@MlangeniMbuyis2) September 17, 2020
Andile Lungisa is having an unmitigated meltdown and the world is moving on as though a farsighted leader, who has dedicated his entire life to fighting for the Black Child, isn’t about to be incarcerated. Thankless society this. SIES!
— Khulani Qoma (@KhulaniQoma) September 17, 2020
Andile Lungisa said “he will come back from Jail and liberate all of us.” pic.twitter.com/WCFpCGwQtY
— Man’s NOT Barry Roux (@AdvoBarryRoux) September 17, 2020
