NPA welcomes decision to grant Wits student leader bail

THE National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has accepted the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court’s decision to grant bail to University of Witwatersrand student leader Mcebo Dlamini.

“As the NPA‚ we welcome that court’s decision and we believe that we were given a fair chance to respond as the respondent in the matter and we therefore accept the ruling‚” NPA’s spokesperson Phindi Louw said yesterday.

She was speaking outside the court where Dlamini‚ the #FeesMustFall leader‚ was granted R2 000 bail after spending three weeks in custody.

Louw rubbished claims that Dlamini’s arrest was part of a political conspiracy as claimed by the student leader’s legal representatives, advocate Dali Mpofu and Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, on Tuesday.

“One thing we need to correct as the NPA is the insinuation made [on Tuesday] that the prosecution in this matter motivated.

“That is completely incorrect and as the NPA we want to clearly state that all prosecutorial decisions of the NPA are based on the merits and facts surrounding any case‚” Louw said.

On Tuesday‚ Mpofu argued in court that after a meeting on October 10 between Minister of Justice Michael Masutha‚ National Director of Public Prosecutions Shaun Abrahams and President Jacob Zuma at the ANC headquarters‚ was politically Luthuli House‚ Dlamini and other student leaders were targeted and arrested.

“This case, my lord‚ has got broader social and political connotations because it happened in the context of student protests at the University of Witwatersrand under the so-called #FeesMustFall campaign,” Mpofu said.

The student leader was arrested on October 15 and was denied bail by the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on October 19.

Magistrate Albertus Roux had said that releasing Dlamini on bail would not be in the best interest of justice because he would not be able to maintain peaceful protests.

His next court appearance is on November 15.

After his release, Dlamini said prison was “like an initiation”.

Addressing hundreds of students‚ workers and supporters outside the court shortly‚ the student leader said the #FeesMustFall movement was not deterred by imprisonment.

“Prison to me was like an initiation. When they took us to prison they thought they were breaking us. They were anointing us‚” Dlamini said to loud cheers.

“We went in very energetic. We are going out still very much strong. We knew that we were held unjustly.”

A much trimmer looking Dlamini was met with loud cheers and celebrations from hundreds of supporters, including family members‚ one of them a baby. — TMG Digital