- ANC member of the Western Cape legislature Andile Lili has been found guilty of incitement to murder during his “poo protest” case.
- The conviction relates to comments he made outside the Bellville Magistrate’s Court when he complained about the justice system.
- Lili told News24 he was sorry about the remarks, which called on people to kill murderers and rapists.
ANC Western Cape provincial legislature member Andile Lili was found guilty of inciting supporters of the Ses’khona People’s Movement to kill murderers and rapists.
He was also found guilty of violating the Illegal Gatherings Act, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said on Tuesday.
Lili was also found guilty of assault common.
The judgment comes amid heightened tensions over so-called vigilante groups fanning out in some suburbs on the pretext of dealing with crime, and zooming in on foreign nationals as alleged perpetrators.
NPA regional spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said Lili was convicted for attending an illegal gathering outside the Bellville Magistrate’s Court on 12 August 2014; and, on 28 July 2015, inciting members of the Ses’khona People’s Movement to murder.
Ses’khona supporters gained notoriety for throwing buckets full of sewage at public places around Cape Town to highlight the bad sanitation services the poor were subjected to in some areas. The Western Cape legislature building and a DA constituency meeting in Khayelitsha were among the targets.
READ | Criminals must be killed immediately and brutally – Lili
The incident at the Cape Town International Airport, where sewage was spread around the entrance to the airport building, saw him and eight others charged with violating the Civil Aviation Act, and sentenced to three years’ imprisonment, suspended for five years.
News24 reported at the time, that he addressed supporters outside the court immediately after the conviction, and complained about South Africa’s justice system, saying it was biased against the poor.
He lamented what he felt was a lack of action against rapists and murderers, and told supporters that murderers and rapists should just be killed if people saw them walking in the streets.
Lili told News24 on Tuesday after the conviction that he had been speaking from a place of extreme anger at the time, and it was in the context of another young woman being brutally raped, then murdered.
He said his remarks were regrettable, but should be seen in the context of anger at gender-based violence.
“I agree; I uttered those words,” he told News24 on Tuesday. “The police, you guys from the media, everyone filmed me. You can see it on YouTube,” he said. “There is no way I can deny it.
Yes, I am sorry. Because I said those things out of frustration.
Ntabazalila said prosecutor Peter John Damon had worked on the case since 2014.
“Justice has finally prevailed,” said Damon in a statement.
“The prosecution is satisfied with the verdict and message that all persons within the Republic of South Africa are subject to the rule of law.”
The court ruled that Lili was guilty of contravening Section 7(1) read with 12 (1)(e) of the Regulation of Gatherings Act regarding a picket outside court on 12 August 2014.
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Video of that event showed police firing stun grenades to break up the group as they surrounded an armoured vehicle.
This part of the Act regulated gatherings at courts, Parliament and the Union Buildings. In terms of the Act, gatherings at those places were prohibited unless there had been an application to authorities asking for permission, and the permission had been granted.
Lili was found guilty of the same offence relating to a gathering outside the Bellville court on 28 July 2015, the day of the poo protesters’ conviction.
Regarding the illegal gathering on 28 July 2015, he was also found guilty of contravention of Section 18(2)(b) of the Riotous Assemblies Act 17 of 1956 – for inciting members of the Ses’khona People’s Movement to murder, in remarks made during a fiery post conviction speech outside the court.
The Constitutional Court heard an application to strike down this section of the Riotous Assemblies Act when EFF leader Julius Malema was accused of inciting people to occupy vacant land.
Malema had countered that it was a violation of his freedom of speech to be subjected to the Riotous Assemblies Act for making those remarks. Malema’s counsel argued that the Riotous Assemblies Act section on incitement made the inciter face the same criminal charge and sentence as the person who carried out the incitement.
The Constitutional Court refused to strike down the entire section that was being contested, but ruled instead that the word “serious” should be added to the wording of that section of the Act, to reflect that it would only apply to serious crime as defined in the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA).
Lili was also found guilty on the alternative charge of assault (common) – in that that he had threatened the complainants in the airport poo incident that he would send someone to shoot them.
Lili’s political career had been marked by an expulsion by the ANC, then re-acceptance into the fold. He was understood to be valued for his keen understanding of micro issues in impoverished communities, and his ability to gather support to highlight social justice matters.
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It was not clear yet how Lili’s conviction would affect his standing in the party, given its “step-aside” rule and party president Cyril Ramaphosa’s clear public pronouncements on how the party would deal with criminal cases of its members.
ANC chief whip in the legislature, Pat Lekker, said in a statement on Tuesday that she noted the judgment and would speak to Lili about it first.
“However, though we wish not to make any premature judgements, it is ultimately the ANC in the Western Cape who must decide on the fate of Mr Lili,” she said.
“We ask that the ANC be given the necessary space to make such a decision.”
The ANC’s provincial structure reflected that approach, saying it would need some time to decide how to handle it.
The case was postponed to 12 August for pre-sentence reports, and sentencing.
Lili’s fellow poo protester Loyiso Nkohla became a head of community liaison in the City of Cape Town, briefly wearing a DA T-shirt, before moving to the Land Party and then the Patriotic Alliance. He had reportedly bowed out of politics since then.
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