Political turmoil leads to assault allegation in court

AFTER an alleged assault incident in January, the former Mtubatuba municipal speaker will be in court over a protection order against the current speaker and deputy mayor.

The alleged incident occurred on 10 January when Speaker Sibongile Shezi and Deputy Mayor Nothile Mthethwa reportedly confronted former speaker Dipuo Ntuli in her office, demanding she call a council meeting to deal with the removal of the municipality's then leadership.

The matter was adjourned on 22 June for Mthethwa and Shezi’s legal representative Siphamandla Mbatha to submit documents he would use in his crossexamination of Ntuli.

On the witness stand on 22 June during the crossexamination, the former council speaker could not recall the exact dates of certain council meetings and Mbatha, on the day, said there were documents that would assist in this regard.

Mbatha’s line of argument will seek to question Ntuli’s credibility, and ultimately whether her recollection of the events on the day of the alleged assault can be relied upon.

The documents, Mbatha said on Wednesday, will be used to address Ntuli’s “inconsistent statements” on the witness stand.

Sibongiseni Zungu for Ntuli is of the view that the submission of these documents is “neither here nor there”, and that the matter should proceed because “my client was violated”.

Zungu said they have a strong case which they can “prove beyond reasonable doubt” with the assistance of three witnesses.

On 7 September, Mbatha’s application will be heard as well as Ntuli’s for a protection order against Mthethwa and Shezi.

Ntuli alleges that Mthethwa and Shezi physically and verbally assaulted her on the day in question while she, the applicant, was still council speaker.

According to Ntuli, the alleged assault happened in her office where the pair had confronted her, demanding that she call a council meeting to deal with the removal of the municipality's then leadership, which included Ntuli, and the ANC's Mbongeleni Gina as mayor and his comrade Ntokozo Mlungwana as his deputy.