Africa-Press – South-Africa. Residents of Nomzamo Park in Soweto have threatened violence after the Orlando Magistrate’s Court moved a case against six men accused of killing 16 people to another court.
The men allegedly gunned down 16 patrons at Mdlalose Tavern in Nomzamo Park last year.
A group of residents, who demonstrated outside the court building, attempted to invade the Orlando court on Thursday.
The police prevented them.
The court was expected to deliver bail judgment against the ex-Hawks officer who is among the six arrested men.
Residents were opposed to him being released on bail.
After hearing pleas from the State and the defence lawyers, Magistrate AW Morton ordered that the bail hearing be moved to a safer courtroom in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court.
The court heard that some residents threatened to torch the Orlando court building.
Community leader Thembalakhe Jaxa said residents were against Morton’s decision.
“We are against the court’s decision. We want this case to be moved to a higher court for trial. The court is wrong by moving this bail hearing to another lower court. The decision brings us more pain.
Jaxa added:
Jaxa promised that no violence would be meted out should the bail hearing be heard in Orlando.
“Should something wrong happen, this building will burn. The death of our innocent brothers escalates our anger. We have asked residents to calm down and for the hearing to be heard in Orlando. We should not fight with their (the accused’s) relatives but with the accused. We want to deal with the accused.”
Jaxa warned the court not to grant the six men bail.
“We don’t want to see their families in court. We are carrying pain that they (families of the accused) don’t feel. We have heard in court that some of the accused are from Lesotho. Our brothers were ambushed at a tavern.
“We are calling for the Basotho nationals in our community to unite with us in what we are fighting for. We want to see the perpetrators convicted. Should they be released, that will cause a problem in the country.
“This case is not about people from a certain tribe who were killed. It is about South Africans who lost their lives. Some foreign nationals who live in our community carry big guns,” Jaxa said.
Harriet Mjoli lost two sons, Sithembiso and Luyanda Mjoli, at the tavern.
Mjoli pleaded that the court provide families with transport to Johannesburg.
“Luyanda fathered three children, and Sithembiso had one child. My grandchildren have lost their fathers. They are my responsibility, and I am unemployed.”
She asked why the former policeman should be granted bail when her children were covered in soil.
“He mustn’t be granted bail. He must stay in jail,” Mjoli said.
The case will be heard on Monday, 20 February, in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court.
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