Parole and lower court plea granted

A LAWYER representing an alleged Terrible Josters gang member argued in the Western Cape High Court that the four drug-related charges his client is facing, out of an indictment of 204 against the gang, should not be heard but finalised in the lower courts.

Emile de Villiers’s client, Luthando Mvumbi, serving 10 years in jail for a rape committed in 2014, was one of 14 members of the gang who applied for bail before Judge Robert Henney.

The gang is facing charges, including 14 murders committed during 2008 and 2017, contravention of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act, and selling drugs to school children.

De Villiers said: “My client is serving 10 years for a rape committed in 2014 and he is eligible for parole. Furthermore he is only facing four drug-related charges out of an indictment containing 204 charges. He is in incarceration for almost two years for the drug-related crime and it is anticipated that the trial of the 19 Terrible Josters gang members could take up to three years. It would be unfair that

My client is only facing four drug-related charges out of an indictment containing 204 charges Emile de Villiers LAWYER

my client spends extra time in prison for the duration of the trial.”

Judge Henney, after listening to De Villiers’s submission, said if the accused is released on parole, his movements can be easily monitored and the drug-related charges against Mvumbi is something that can be dealt with at lower courts.

He ordered De Villiers and State prosecutor Greg Wolmarans to liaise with correctional services to arrange parole conditions for release. Arguments in the bail application of the other 13 members will continue today.