Masiphumelele on edge as community leader appears in court

Lubabalo Vellem, the accused, is a leader of Masiphumelele Backyarders and Informal Settlement Forum and intends to plead not guilty. He is represented by Advocate Lennox Ntsimando.

Vellem’s arrest comes after months of protests by residents in Masiphumelele around a lack of adequate policing in the area.

A few hundred people from Masiphumelele held a demonstration outside the court in support of Vellem. Their singing could be heard inside the courtroom.

Prosecutor Gift Hina for the state asked Vellem about the various charges against him and Vellem continuously responded that he knew nothing about them.

Charges

The investigating officer Sergent Siyasanga Maputuka explained the four charges to the court.

Maputuka told the court:

• On the murder charge, Velem on 15 September went to the victim’s house, “took him out of the house, assaulted him and killed him.” There were six people who were “in the front” as well as many on-lookers.

• On the charge of attempted murder, on 20 September, a man known as Lucky was allegedly selling drugs and members of the community confronted him. After being attacked, a tyre was placed over his head and set alight. The police then arrived and “managed to save Lucky”.

• On the charge of public violence, on 15 September, Vellem is accused of pouring petrol on a police van and setting it alight.

• On the final charge of assault with attempt to do grievous bodily harm, on 29 September, Vellem and others confronted men alleged to have stabbed a foreigner. Maputuka accused Vellem of stabbing one of the men with a screwdriver, and said the community beat the men before the police intervened.

Bail

Maputuka said that he opposed bail because the lives of witnesses would be in danger, and “if he is released, the violence or toyi-toying will proceed”.

“The most important reason is because I am scared for his life. The people who he was accusing of selling drugs want to kill him,” Maputuka told the court.

The prosecutor said the state will lead with evidence that the community doesn’t want him there and for that reason they burnt his shack down last year.

In response to this, people from Masiphumelele who were in court responded with “Haibo!”

Vellem’s shack in Masiphumelele was burnt down a few weeks ago, in what the state alleges was an act of arson.

Vellem responded that he did not know why the shack burnt down as he was in the Eastern Cape during that time.

He argued that he should be given bail because he has children, is employed, will not run away and will not interfere with witnesses.

Vellem has a job at Makro and before that he worked at Mr Price. From 2003 to 2013, Vellem worked at the Desmond Tutu HIV/AIDS Foundation. He has six children between the ages of one and fourteen.

The state said that Vellem would be safer in custody.

“From whom? I don’t recall that there are people who want to kill me,” objected Vellem.

When asked about an alternative address, he gave the address of his sister in Khayelitsha.

The prosecutor said that his sister did not want him in her house.

Vellem disputed this and said that his sister was in the court. His sister then appeared before the court and said that no investigating officer had contacted her. When asked whether the accused was welcome in her house, she said, “He is my brother.”

The prosecutor then clarified that the state did not actually have confirmation that his sister did not want him in her house.

Community support

Community members in court say Vellem is innocent. “Everyone says he is not guilty,” said one woman. She went to say that the police must arrest everyone in the community if they want to say that Vellem is guilty.

“All of us support him one hundred percent,” said another community member. She said that as a leader of the Masiphumelele Backyarders and Informal Settlement Forum, Vellem was helping people look for land to live on.

The court was adjourned to Monday when a decision on Vellem’s bail is expected.

As of late this afternoon, at the time of publication, a group of Masiphumelele residents were singing on the road that goes past the township. There was a large police presence.