Lungisa to appeal against two-year jail sentence

ANC councillor Andile Lungisa, convicted of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and jailed for two years, intends to bring an application for leave to appeal both his conviction and sentence.

The application was set to be brought by his lawyer yesterday.

The Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court yesterday sentenced Lungisa to an effective two years in jail, after finding he intentionally smashed a glass jug over the head of former mayoral committee member for transport, Rano Kayser, during a chaotic 2016 Nelson Mandela Bay council meeting.

Kayser sustained multiple lacerations to his head and neck, with pictures at the time showing him drenched in blood. The violent fracas saw councillors receive trauma counselling.

Evidence presented before court included a video taken by DA councillor Renaldo Gouws, which showed how Lungisa slammed the jug over Kayser’s head and how Kayser fell backwards and landed on the floor.

In passing down sentence, magistrate Morne Cannon emphasised that the case was a criminal matter and not a political one. Cannon took into consideration that Kayser had sustained serious injuries which could have been “fatal and had catastrophic consequences”.

Kayser testified in aggravation of sentence and told the court he had suffered short-term memory loss since the incident.

“The doctor… said that he was lucky to be alive,” said Cannon. The incident had far-reaching consequences for Kayser, who had been humiliated.

In mitigation of sentence, Lungisa testified that he looked after his seven children, as well as his parents and younger siblings.

Lungisa told the court that he respected the court’s decision to find him guilty, and was remorseful. However, the court found that Lungisa had shown no remorse, and did not take responsibility for his actions.

Cannon said that a non-custodial sentence THURSDAY MAY 10 2018 would over-emphasise Lungisa’s personal circumstances.

The magistrate said he had taken into account that Lungisa was a first offender who supported his family, but stated that assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm was a serious offence. Cannon found that as a public representative, Lungisa had betrayed the trust of the community.

Lungisa had pleaded not guilty to the charge and claimed that he had acted in self-defence. This was, however, dismissed by Cannon, who found that Lungisa had no reason to hit Kayser. Lungisa was taken down to the court’s holding cells. – African News Agency (ANA)