ANC stands by Lungisa pending possible appeal

An unimpressive witness who contradicted his own testimony – this is how ANC councillor Andile Lungisa was described when convicted of assault with intent to commit grievous bodily harm on Tuesday.

Lungisa, who appeared stunned by the ruling, was convicted after magistrate Morne Cannon found he purposely evaded questions during cross-examination, was vague and contradicted himself and evidence led by state witnesses.

“[Lungisa] did not impress me – he gave long-winded answers [to questions] which required a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ response,” Cannon said in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court.

After the judgment, a clearly shaken Lungisa left the courtroom hurriedly, flanked by supporters.

In stark contrast to his usual outspokenness, he refused to answer questions from the media, saying only: “We’ll sit down and reflect on the matter.”

But he tweeted later: “A day doesn’t go by without news, I was almost put in the darkest of jail cells.”

The magistrate said video footage submitted to the court showed Lungisa had intentionally smashed a glass water jug over the head of DA councillor Rano Kayser during a heated October 2016 council session.

“It is not in dispute that [Lungisa] was in possession of the water jug and that he had hit [Kayser] over the head with the jug,” Cannon said.

Kayser, who fell to the ground after the assault, was taken to hospital where he had stitches.

During his trial, Lungisa denied vehemently that he had intentionally injured Kayser, claiming he had been under attack and had acted in self-defence.

Lungisa claimed at one stage that his arm had been twisted behind his back and Kayser was moving toward him to punch him.

“[Lungisa] claimed he was assaulted – which never happened [and which] contradicted video evidence,” Cannon said.

After the council fracas, Lungisa went to the Humewood police station to lay a complaint of assault, but in his statement to police he never mentioned the water jug, the assault on Kayser or that he had acted in self-defence.

“I got the impression that [Lungisa] tailored his version of events as the trial proceeded,” Cannon said.

He said he had found state witnesses, including Kayser, councillor Johnny Arends, council speaker Jonathan Lawack and councillor Renaldo Gouws reliable and impressive witnesses.

Gouws had video-recorded the incident on his cellphone.

The recording was used by the state to prove that Lungisa had intentionally assaulted Kayser without provocation.

During the trial, Lungisa claimed he had intended only to throw water over Kayser to ward off an attack on him.

But Cannon said there was no evidence of that.

He said state witnesses had corroborated that there had been no attack on Lungisa, who had approached the desk of the speaker after the chaos erupted.

The fracas ensued after Lawack referred ANC councillor Xola Sabani to the ethics committee for possible disciplinary processes and asked him to leave, but Sabani refused.

“From the onset of the trial, it was made clear that this was not a political matter but a criminal case,” Cannon said.

ANC Bay regional secretary Themba Xathula said although Lungisa had been convicted of a serious crime he remained a member of the party and would continue receiving support.

“We will respect the court’s decision – in our view, we are going to appeal,” Xathula said.

He said he did not believe it had been a fair trial, adding that “there are some things that still need to be proved truthful”.

He said the ANC would decide after the sentencing whether or not to suspend Lungisa as an ANC councillor.

The ANC’s constitution allowed members to appeal against court rulings and suspension was not automatic.

Kayser said he felt vindicated for placing his trust in the judiciary.

“The outcome today shows we have a judicial system that is independent and acts in the interest of all its citizens,” he said.

Lungisa’s co-accused, Gamalihleli Maqula, was acquitted on all charges last month when the court found there was not enough evidence against him.

At the time, Cannon said a video taken by former UDM councillor Mandla Faltein did not carry much weight.

It had been alleged that Maqula stabbed metro chief whip Werner Senekal in the back during the chaos.

Meanwhile, the DA has challenged the ANC to implement its conference resolution and remove Lungisa.

This, after fellow ANC councillor Bongo Nombiba was convicted last month on charges of fraud and money laundering.

“This underlines the lack of credibility and proves our long-held assertion that the ANC caucus in NMB cannot be entrusted with people’s lives and money,” DA provincial spokesman Mlindi Nhanha said.

The ANC, at its 2012 Mangaung conference, resolved to remove senior members of the party found guilty of a serious crime.

Lungisa stepped down previously when he was a member of the provincial executive committee while standing trial on fraud and money laundering charges.

When the charges were withdrawn, he resumed his political duties.

ANC Eastern Cape secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi said the party would study the court judgment and take an informed decision.

National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Tspeo Ndwalaza welcomed the decision of the court.

“We believe that justice has been served.”

Lungisa will be sentenced on May 9 once a pre-sentence report has been completed.