[ad_1]
The students gathered in front of the Hillbrow Magistrates Court.
- Students dressed in political party attire gathered in front of Hillbrow Magistrates Court on Thursday.
- They were relieved when they were told that seven of their colleagues would not be prosecuted after being arrested during the protests in Wits.
- Students protest funding.
It was applause and joy in Hillbrow Magistrates Court when it was heard that the National Tax Authority (NPA) would not prosecute seven Wits University students arrested during Wednesday’s protests.
According to NPA spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane, the NPA refused to prosecute due to insufficient evidence.
Speaking out of court on Thursday, Mjonondwane said the NPA received three separate files.
The only file had five people arrested for public violence and they were released on warning Wednesday night. The other two files concerned individuals who were released on 1,000 rand bail at Hillbrow Police Station.
“In all those three files, the NPA has decided not to proceed with the prosecution, but to mention in one of the files, where a suspect was arrested for intentional damage to property, that the file has been forwarded for further investigation.
“Then, depending on the outcome of those additional investigations, the outcome will decide whether the prosecution should continue or not,” Mjonondwane said.
Among those arrested on Wednesday was Lwazi Ntombela, who called the event “traumatic.”
He was released after a warning.
Speaking to News24 after hearing that the state would no longer pursue the prosecution, Ntombela said: “To some extent, I am relieved that the NPA has made the decision not to prosecute any of the [students].
“Right now we are going to continue with our demonstrations, peacefully, as we have been doing.
“If the police want to come and mistreat us again, they can go back to court and be released. It is really traumatizing what they put us through,” Ntombela said.
Discontinued
Reacting to the NPA’s out-of-court decision, Wits SRC General Treasurer Kanakana Mudzanani said they were pleased with the outcome.
He added that he demonstrated that his demonstrations were peaceful and non-violent, but that the violence was due to police brutality.
READ HERE | The ‘militarization’ of the police, the use of rubber bullets is a potentially lethal combination, experts say
Mudzanani said he hoped the country would now realize that those responsible for the death that resulted from the chaos in Braamfontein on Wednesday needed to be brought to justice.
Mudzanani said he was currently suspended, but added that he had written to Wits to seek answers about his suspension.
He said that he had received an email for a hearing but was unable to attend because he did not have access to his inbox due to the demonstrations.
“I want to say that the battle is the battle of all young people. This is not a protest led by the SRC. It is a protest of all young people and therefore if the university takes a stand to victimize those who are at Faced with this, they are not going to silence this movement because it speaks of a call that has been awaited by society. You cannot repress an idea whose time has come. “
SRC policy and legal officer Gabriella Nechama Farber told News24 she was also suspended.
She said the only reason she was arrested was because she was defending the students, who couldn’t do it for themselves.
“These are students and we don’t even know their full names because they are all over the country in rural areas, where they don’t even have the privilege or the right to ask for help.
“When we are here, we defend those who have no voice and we will continue in the streets because this is our country,” said Nechama Farber.
Did you know that you can comment on this article? Subscribe to News24 and add your voice to the conversation.
