Andile Lungisa's lawyers call for a full acquittal or non-custodial sentence
Too much focus on ANC councillor's political standing, defence tells appeal court
Nelson Mandela Bay ANC councillor Andile Lungisa's lawyers have called for a full acquittal - or at the very least, a non-custodial sentence - for their client, claiming Lungisa should not have been used as a proverbial sacrificial lamb.
Lungisa is appealing a two-year sentence for assault in the Eastern Cape High Court in Makhanda following a heated council brawl in October 2016.
Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi criticised magistrate Mornay Cannon, who had sentenced Lungisa to an effective two years’ imprisonment last year, claiming Cannon had paid too much attention to Lungisa’s political standing.
Judgment was reserved.
State advocate Nickie Turner told the Eastern Cape high court that Lungisa could not rely on the aspect of putative self-defence.
Turner said he had smashed the jug on DA councillor Rano Kayser’s head with such force that it could have left the victim brain damaged, or could even had led to his death.
Lungisa was convicted of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm.
He was at court on Wednesday with a handful of ANC supporters in tow.
He declined to comment on what he believed the outcome of the case would be.