Chronicle Editor
Mashudu Netsianda, Senior Court Reporter
A MTHWAKAZI Republic Party (MRP) activist has been fined $400 or 60 days in jail for assaulting a police officer outside the Bulawayo High Court while celebrating the release of former Chief Felix Nhlanhlayamangwe Ndiweni on bail pending appeal.
Mongameli Mlotshwa (33) of Magwegwe West assaulted Detective Constable Wellington Masuna who was on duty monitoring the situation. He grabbed the cop by his belt before punching and kicking him in the stomach.
Mlotshwa was convicted of assault charges by Bulawayo magistrate Mr Shepherd Munjanja. He was further slapped with three months imprisonment wholly suspended for three years on condition that he does not within that period commit a similar offence.
The prosecutor, Mr Leonard Chile said on August 28 at around 3PM, Det Const Masuna, who was clad in civilian clothes, had been deployed in the area around the High Court where Mr Ndiweni’s bail ruling was being heard to monitor the situation.
Mlotshwa, who was part of group of MRP activists chanting political slogans and singing songs while celebrating the release of Mr Ndiweni on bail pending appeal, spotted the complainant receiving a phone call and he confronted him and shouted at him before assaulting him.
“When the complainant answered the call, Mlotshwa pushed Det Const Masuna and punched him before he kicked him in the stomach as he shouted at him calling him a thief. He kicked the complainant once in the stomach,” said Mr Chile.
The complainant was rescued by his colleagues before they arrested Mlotshwa.
Mlotshwa was also part of the five MRP activists who were recently acquitted by Bulawayo magistrate Ms Adelaide Mbeure on charges of disorderly conduct in violation of Section 4(a) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act after they were arrested while allegedly singing songs with a political message at the High Court.
They were discharged at the close of the State case after the magistrate ruled that there was no evidence linking them to the alleged offence.
In acquitting the five accused persons, Ms Mbeure said the State failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.
Their discharge followed an application by their lawyer Mr Dumisani Dube of Mathonsi Ncube Law Chambers, who argued that there was no evidence linking his clients to the offence. -@mashnets
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