Nomonde Zondi|Published
The Durban Magistrate’s Court granted Wandile Nsibande R1,000 bail with conditions, but correctional services officials re-arrested him shortly after his release over an alleged parole violation.
Nsibande faced charges of incitement to cause violence following violent protests in Durban on October 8 and 10.
During his bail application, Magistrate Sicelo Zuma said it was not for the court to determine whether Nsibande had breached his parole conditions.
He said refusing bail based on videos presented in court, including one in which Nsibande is heard using profanity against judges, would amount to punishing him before his case had been decided.
He stressed that presiding officers must remain impartial.
However, Zuma noted that one of the videos showed police officers shooting Nsibande in the genital area with rubber bullets.
The magistrate said there was no likelihood that Nsibande would interfere with witnesses or evade trial. He also noted that Nsibande had attended his 2009 trial until its conclusion.
In 2009, Nisabande had pleaded guilty to kidnapping and robbing Kavisha Seevnarain.
She was taken to the uMkhomazi River (Umkomaas) bridge on the N2 on the South Coast and thrown off the 60-meter bridge.
Nisbande was released on parole in April 2022 and was to remain under supervision until 2034.
Following Nsibande’s arrest, the Department of Correctional Services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said parolees and probationers were required to comply with specific conditions at all times, and that failure to do so constituted a violation.
“Where a violation is brought to the attention of the Department of Correctional Services, whether through non-compliance with parole conditions or where an individual is suspected of, or criminally charged with, committing an offence, the person must be detained for at least 48 hours,” Nxumalo said.
He said a parole board must convene during that period to review the individual’s parole placement and determine the appropriate course of action.
Before the bail decision, investigating officer Sergeant Ngidi questioned the timing of the withdrawal of an assault case against Nsibande.
In the Eshowe matter, Nsibande was accused of assaulting his sister after accusing her of stealing his cheese and a meat braai pack. His lawyer, attorney Xolani Zuma, told the court that the case had since been withdrawn.
According to Sergeant Ngidi, Nsibande’s sister went to Inkanyezi Court on October 13 to withdraw the complaint, shortly before the matter was due to go to trial. The withdrawal coincided with Nsibande’s first appearance in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on the public violence charges.
Ngidi said he contacted the complainant on October 14, when she told him that the family had sat down, resolved their differences and decided that she would no longer pursue the case.
However, he said the timing of the withdrawal raised questions about the circumstances surrounding her decision.
“It is also important for me to inform the court that the sister did also complain to the correctional officer that the applicant is troublesome at home in that he swears and beats them,” Ngidi said.
Senior prosecutor Roshiela Benimadho argued that Nsibande had breached his parole conditions. She said he had been on parole since April 2022 and would remain under supervision until 2034.
“He has been arrested twice and he did not inform the correctional services officer that he was facing assault charges,” Benimadho said.
She further told the court that correctional services had not been informed that Nsibande was leaving the Eshowe district, despite his subsequent arrest in the Umbilo area of Durban.
Nsibande, through his lawyer, maintained that his sister had not been forced to withdraw the charges against him.
Zuma said the dispute between Nsibande and his sister was a family feud that had since been resolved. He also told the court that Nsibande’s mother had obtained a protection order against the sister.
Nsibande is charged alongside Sphelele “Magolide” Shinga and Malizo Dzanibe, who have also been released on R1,000 bail each.
The three are due back in court on November 26.