Community to appeal Bhisho court’s life sentences for vigilante killings

The communities of Amagqunukhwebe have rejected the harsh sentences handed down by the Bhisho High Court to 16 Ndindwa residents for their role in the vigilante killing of 4 community members and are seeking re-adjudication of the matter. The court sentenced the 16 defendants to four life terms plus an additional 35 years.

Residents from Ndindwa Administrative Area, Debenek, near Middledrift in the Eastern Cape have formally mandated a team of lawyers to initiate an appeal process to challenge the decision of the Bisho High Court.

According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the offence occurred on 31 December 2022, when members of the community had gathered for a traditional ceremony. During the gathering, a group of community members held a meeting and resolved that individuals suspected of cable theft or related criminal activity would be subjected to ‘community punishment’.

Lwando Makinana (34), Nwabisa Melane (33), Ziphozihle Thimba (41) and Vuyo Clifford Lamani (44) were accused and forcibly removed from their homes and killed. The court heard that the victims were unarmed and posed no threat at the time of the attack.

The following day, the NPA says, community members further obstructed justice by preventing police officers from performing their lawful duties, forcing them to retreat from the area.

The Amagqunukhwebe lawyers are currently conducting urgent separate consultations with each of the 13 male offenders, at St Albans prison, and with the 3 female offenders detained at Fort Glamorgan prison in East London, which is the only correctional facility in the Eastern Cape region for female offenders.

The consultations, which will take 3 to 5 days, will culminate in a community meeting to give the lawyers a fresh mandate. The family of each of the offenders is expected to pay R1,500 for both the consultations and the mobilisation costs of the Ndindwa community meeting. Despite missing the deadline for filing an appeal, the lawyers believe that sufficient reasons for condonation, and grounds for an appeal, exist.

In the context of a high rate of crime, and the failure of the police and the justice system to address it, and given the ages of the accused, the residents labelled the sentences as too harsh.

Many of the people who spoke to Elitsha raised concerns regarding the tardy response by police to reported crimes and their loss of trust in the justice system. They a shortage of police vehicles, a lack of visible patrols and the fact that many villages are very far from the police stations as some of the challenges to their security.

Drug abuse at the root of crime

Zukiswa Grootboom, the director of Intsika Yethemba, a community-based organisation in Ngcabasa village which fights substance abuse in the rural areas of Amagqunukhwebe, believes that appealing the the harsh sentences is a just cause.

“We do not promote vigilantism and what the community of Ndindwa did. Most of the sentenced people are elderly members of our community and are first-time offenders. The community, the SAPS and justice system have failed both families, those of the perpetrators and victims. Drug prevalence and abuse in our rural communities are at the centre of the devastation suffered by the community. This violence could have been prevented if stakeholders were working together to uproot the crime and the drug problem causing harm to our communities. One could say that those four young people who were brutally killed were innocent in the sense that they were under the influence of drugs while committing crime and terrorising the community,” she says.

The Ndindwa case is not an isolated tragedy or the first case in the area; vigilantism permeates all areas. Grootboom says that within Raymond Mhlaba Municipality, there are currently cases of vigilantism in Alice and Middledrift, and many horrible crimes in the past 15 years for which the police and the justice system have failed to bring the culprits to book. Communities have lost hope in law enforcement services and the justice system at large, she argues.

Community members of Amagqunukhwebe at a public meeting held at the Ndindwa Community Hall. Photo by Asanda Jelman

“Recently, the activities of criminal elements have escalated to the extent that law enforcement agencies are being targeted,” said Vuyani Ngcuka from Raymond Mhlaba’s Farmers Association. “While we acknowledge loss of life, we believe the court didn’t sufficiently consider the broader social and security context within which these events occurred,” he says.

Ngcuka said Ndindwa is far removed from police stations and that communities have experienced repeated loss of livestock and property that represent their entire life savings. The 16 convicted individuals are ordinary people, he insists, previously law-abiding community members – farmers, caregivers, and parents engaged in daily survival such as tending livestock, working fields, and caring for the elderly and infirm. “Their actions were not driven by criminal intent but by desperation, fear and repeated exposure to unchecked crime,” says Ngcuka.

The harsh sentences won’t bring peace and healing to the Ndindwa community. That would require the community to constructively process grief, anger and trauma and for community leadership to take a firm stance against violence and vigilantism, Ngcuka argues. “While reconciliation may not be immediately achieved, efforts should focus on peaceful co-existence, dialogue and collective healing. Support must be extended to both families, that of the deceased and families of those imprisoned,” he says.

“The court judgement was harsh, inconsiderate, inconsistent with the act and causality of the action. I feel the court didn’t apply its mind to the background context of the event. The court could have come to a different conclusion had it considered the individual profile of each accused and community circumstances before the event,” says Mateli Mpuntsha from Zigodlo location.

“Ndindwa village is part of Amagqunukhwebe community, a peace-loving people who believe in the rule of law. This act of violence is unfortunate to have happened in our area. Lack of police vans and incapacity of the police are a major problem. Ndindwa community need to meet and be given a space to heal and come up with a way forward”, says Chris Dali, chairperson of the Amagqunukhwebe community.

“When police are not acting quickly or prioritise certain crimes and overlook some others, community members become frustrated, angry and resort to vigilantism. SAPS crime fighting is not satisfactory. The police in uniform have only two vehicles that are in working condition to service the 29 scattered villages and there are no community policing forums to assist in crime fighting,” says Cebo Twaku from Ngcabasa location.

“The police station is very far from Ndindwa community – R80 return transport to be exact. The deceased were very problematic in the community and didn’t have compassion for those they hurt. They have done horrendous crimes and felt like they own the community. The community was tired and never imagined themselves committing such crime,” says Nondumiso Ngqawana from Qanda location.

NPA stands by the ruling

Speaking to Elitsha Luxolo Tyali, NPA Eastern Cape spokesperson, says that, ”Anyone who takes the law into his own hands will be prosecuted and punished accordingly. There is no justice system that can be dispensed anywhere other than through the constitutionally authorised courts. The constitution guarantees everyone’s right to life – even the courts do not impose a death sentence. So there can be no justification for killing people.”

In response to arguments that rural communities need awareness campaigns and the application of restorative justice approaches to conflict resolution, he says they should feel free to approach the NPA. “We have a dedicated community prosecution unit for that purpose exactly. We have radio slots on community radio stations where we addressed these topics,” said Tyali.