M’sane intimidation trialist pleads not guilty

ONE of two intimidation charges levelled against Mdantsane resident Sithembele April, 41, was withdrawn in the East London regional court yesterday.

But an additional charge of trying to escape from lawful custody was added to his rap sheet.

April was arrested in November after he had allegedly sent threatening SMS text messages to provincial Hawks spokeswoman Captain Anelisa Feni in September.

The charge that was dropped was that he had called Eastern Cape Development Corporation’s (ECDC) CEO Ndzondelelo Dlulane in November and warned him about a planned assassination plot, which he claimed was masterminded by someone who had been axed from ECDC.

Yesterday, April pleaded not guilty to all charges.

State prosecutor Khaya Makwakwa said the new charge related to his attempt to escape on November 19 when police escorted him to his Mdantsane home while conducting their investigations.

Makwakwa did not explain why the charge of intimidation in relation to Dlulane’s case was withdrawn.

Feni, the state’s first witness, told the court that she had feared for her life when she received the threatening text messages.

She was in her Beacon Bay home on September 16 at around 9.30pm when she received a phone call from someone who identified himself as “Andile from King William’s Town”.

The caller asked if she had received a text message he had sent her earlier. She asked him to drop the call so she could look for it on her phone.

“When I could not find it, I called the number back and informed the guy that there was no message on my phone,” Feni said.

She told court that when she woke up at around 6.30am the next day there was a text message written in isiXhosa from the same number.

The message read: “Anelisa Feni you are going to die. I am asking you to resign as a police officer. Go to your bosses and tell them the truth because you know what I am talking about. We are giving you two days to resign and get out of that office because there is no one who will lose their source of income because of you”.

Feni then informed her superiors at the provincial Hawks offices and reported the caller to the Beacon Bay police.

The trial continues today. —