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- Andile Lungisa was released on bail Friday by the Eastern Cape High Court in Makhanda, pending the outcome of his permission to appeal his imprisonment to the Constitutional Court.
- However, it has since emerged that he has chosen to remain in prison to finish the programs he started.
- This despite the fact that one of the main points he made in documents to ConCourt is that the prison conditions are “unconstitutional.”
In total contradiction between maintaining his innocence and his reasons for going to the Constitutional Court to appeal his sentence, ANC Councilor for Nelson Mandela Bay, Andile Lungisa, has allegedly chosen to remain in prison after being released on bail. .
The Eastern Cape High Court in Makhanda granted Lungisa bail on Friday morning, pending the outcome of the request for permission to appeal to the high court.
However, it has since emerged that Lungisa has chosen to remain in prison, according to his brother, Ayongezwa Lungisa.
Andile Lungisa’s brother Ayongezwa Lungisa says Andile Lungisa has chosen not to be released on bail today. Ayongezwa says they had the money for his release, but Andile refused saying that he would like to complete the programs he started in prison first, before leaving. #sabcnews pic.twitter.com/T4pkUnJwwY
– Fax from Lerato (@LThipa) September 25, 2020
In a SABC News video, Lungisa’s brother said that the former vice president of the ANC Youth League had decided to remain in prison and terminate the programs he had started.
READ | Andile Lungisa Gets Bail, Pending ConCourt Request
“This is not part of admitting that what the courts did or rather the determination that the courts gave is correct, but rather it wants to demystify the myth that it wants to buy all the problems it faces,” Ayongezwa said. the station.
“The second is that it may seem that he is not a law-abiding citizen, so he said he wants to stay inside to finish those programs, when he finishes those programs he will go out and join his family and the people of the South.” Africa.”
Lungisa has maintained his innocence, claiming he acted in self-defense when he smashed a glass jug on the head of Alderman District Attorney Rano Kayser during a council fight in 2016.
After being convicted and sentenced to three years in prison (one year suspended) in 2018, Lungisa appealed the conviction and sentence in the Eastern Cape Superior Court, which rejected the request.
He then went to the Supreme Court of Appeals (SCA) appealing only his sentence, which upheld the lower court’s decision.
Since then, Lungisa has addressed the highest court in the country in an attempt to avoid jail.
In his court documents filed with the Constitutional Court, Lungisa argued that the detention of people in prison is unconstitutional due to Covid-19 conditions and regulations.
According to Lungisa, the SCA did not take into consideration “the enormous disadvantages of incarceration.”
This includes the current situation with the existence of Covid-19 and overcrowding in prisons.
He added that the appeals court did not take into account the harm caused to him, his family and his ability to obtain a job after serving his sentence.
READ | ‘Allusive and false observations’: Judiciary responds to complaints of political interference by Andile Lungisa
“I would also like to draw the attention of this honorable court to the fact that the Department of Correctional Services has very important laws and regulations, very few of which are enforced, which means that people are in unconstitutional custody,” said Lungisa .
He noted that prison cells are overcrowded, very few people have mattresses and beds, little or no access to water, being forced to openly use the bathroom where people can see it and that the food is “awful.”
However, Lungisa said that he could understand that not all prisoners can be released early, especially those who have committed very serious crimes and repeat offenders who “would have to endure such circumstances today.”
But for him, it is very different because he will be there for a period of no more than two years and in that time, he will not be able to see his wife or his seven children and he will have very little access to decent food, accommodation, exercise and living conditions. worthy.
Despite these superior court submissions, Lungisa has now decided to remain behind bars until she has completed the programs.
Lungisa further noted that short prison sentences are purely retributive and do not add any additional value.
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