Stellies murder-accused official revealed
THREE accused, Stellenbosch deputy mayor Nyaniso Jindela, his wife, Unathi, and Gladstone Relegu, were each released on R5 000 bail in connection with the murder of a former deputy mayor, Cameron Mcako.
The three appeared at the Stellenbosch Magistrate’s Court yesterday and were charged with murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, illegal possession of a firearm, and illegal possession of ammunition.
Jindela, 56, Unathi, 46, and Relegu, 48, were arrested on Tuesday in connection with killing Mcako who was the second prominent political figure to be killed in Kayamandi amid intense clashes for prime land to be made available for the poor in 2019.
The fourth suspect, Phumlani Sibongo, has already appeared on the same charges.
Mcako was shot at his tavern and later died in hospital. His death is believed to be politically motivated.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said the accused will join Sibongo on June 11, for a pre-trial hearing at the Western Cape High Court.
“The conditions include house arrest for all the accused. The house arrest gets suspended when they have to get medical attention.
“They have to inform the investigating officer when they have to get medical attention unless it’s an emergency. It is also suspended on Sundays when the deputy mayor and his wife have to attend church.
“The house arrest also gets suspended when the accused has to go to work. Relegu didn’t raise the issue of attending church,” said Ntabazalila
Ntabazalila said the suspects were ordered by the court not to change residential addresses without providing the investigating officer with a written notification.
“They mustn’t interfere with witnesses, they must hand over their travel documents, must not be 500m from any border of entry, they may not leave the Western Cape without informing the investigating officer and must report to the police in Stellenbosch
on Mondays and Fridays between 8am and 8pm. The case was then transferred to the Western Cape High Court," he said.
Municipal spokesperson Stuart Grobbelaar said the municipal manager has referred the matter to the office of the speaker for handling in terms of schedule 1 of the Municipal Systems Act Code of Conduct for Councillors.
“At this stage, any further queries around the case, should be directed to the South African Police Service (SAPS), the political party concerned, and the provincial minister for local government and development planning,” said Grobbelaar.
The DA’s federal council chairperson, Helen Zille, said the federal executive may suspend a person from party activities pending the finalisation of an investigation or disciplinary process in terms of the DA Constitution section 10.12.2.
“The DA constitution prescribes that a member ceases to be a member when he or she is found guilty of an offence listed in certain schedules of the Criminal Procedure Act.”