Three denied bail as initiate fights for his life
Three Eastern Cape traditional leaders accused of attempted murder after they allegedly forced an initiate to walk through burning coals are to remain in custody until the finalisation of their trial.
State prosecutor Anele Magibile vehemently and successfully opposed bail being granted to Mosito Maposa, 35, Ntola Ponto, 33, and Mpumelelo Jayi, 31, who are accused of trying to kill Siphelele Monyane, 22, who has been fighting for his life in Frontier Hospital in Komani since December 11.
Maposa, a Lesotho national, had already abandoned a bail bid, while Lady Grey magistrate Nokuzola Mbewana on Monday found Ntola and Ponto not good candidates for bail.
Mbewana said the state had a strong case and releasing the three on bail would likely cause outrage in society.
The case has drawn the interest of cultural experts.
The Eastern Cape House of Traditional and Khoi-san Leaders, Eastern Cape Provincial Initiation Co-ordinating Committee and its task team, as well as the Joe Gqabi Local House of Traditional Leaders and district initiation monitoring team had opposed bail.
The state argued that the accused were given the responsibility of caring for and protecting Monyane and other initiates.
“What makes this exceptional is that an initiation school is not just a normal place,” Magibile said.
“Also, this case has generated a lot of public interest which saw a petition from the provincial house of traditional leaders.”
The state argued it had a witness who was with Monyane at the initiation school and needed to be protected from any possible harm by the accused.
NPA spokesperson Luxolo Tyali said releasing the accused on bail would cause a public outcry and would not be in the interests of justice.
“The prosecution welcomes the denial of bail to the accused because it is our strongly held view that in these circumstances there is the likelihood that release of the accused will disturb the public order or undermine the public peace.”
Magibile said earlier it was of great concern that there were allegations that the victim’s maternal uncle, Eric Monyane, was trying to persuade him to drop the charges.
Though the state argued it had a strong case, defence attorney Lungile Mdleleni said the trial court would throw the matter out as there was no evidence against his clients and keeping them in custody was not in the interests of justice.
Monyane was one of a group of 45 initiates at the initiation camp where an initiate died in December.
An inquest docket was opened but no one has been charged as yet.
Monyane had joined other Sotho initiates, as his mother is a Sotho, though his father is a Xhosa.
Lady Grey is the hometown of co-operative governance and traditional affairs MEC Zolile Williams and his spokesperson, Pheello Oliphant.
The matter shocked many, including Williams, as Lady Grey and the rest of the Joe Gqabi district is one of the areas that was believed to have safer traditional initiation rites.
The deputy chair of the house of traditional leaders, Nkosi Gwazinamba Matanzima, welcomed the court’s decision to deny bail and said they were watching the case closely.
“We wish other courts could do the same and take the issue of torture, assault and killing of initiates in the Eastern Cape very seriously.
“We pride ourselves on this sacred custom but incidents of criminality tarnish this rite.
“We cannot have initiates who die, are injured and even lose their manhood at initiation schools, and nobody is found responsible.”
The case was postponed to March 18 for further investigation.
Thirty-five initiates died in the province’s 2023 summer initiation season.