Azapo revival meeting for EL

AZAPO will today host their imvuselelo campaign in East London at the Mdantsane Sun.

The party, which has launched their own bid to urge South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to pardon jailed AbaThembu King Buleyekhaya Dalindyebo, is also on a path to reenergise its structures from branch level up.

In a letter written to Ramaphosa, the party requests that the president not only grant Dalindyebo a presidential pardon but also fast-track the passing of the traditional courts bill.

Azapo secretary Chris Swepu said passing of the bill would help in providing clarity for the exercise of traditional leadership within the context of constitutional democracy.

King Dalindyebo, who is now in his third year of a 12-year sentence, was jailed for crimes committed in the 1970s.

“For the sake of the dignity of the AbaThembu and the dignity of the African traditional leadership, we trust that the president will find it favourable to consider our humble request,” said Swepu.

The party is scheduled to consult with the AbaThembu King today.

“We call for the king’s release because he is not a common criminal but is being punished for implementing and dispensing justice way.”

Azapo has maintained that the constitution needs to be overhauled, saying that it turned Africans and their values into “secondclass citizens” and that it was drafted based on imposed principles.

In 2009, the Eastern Cape High Court sentenced the king to an effective 15 years for seven counts of kidnapping, three of assault, three of arson, defeating the ends of justice and culpable homicide.

The trial, which dragged on for five years, saw the king change lawyers 11 times, and went through 34 postponements. Eventually, in 2015, he succeeded in getting three years shaved off his sentence. in the traditional