Makokoba Posa trial postponed

Politics
TWO Makokoba MDC-T officials, who are being charged with conducting a meeting without police clearance, had their case further postponed on Tuesday

TWO Makokoba MDC-T officials, who are being charged with conducting a meeting without police clearance, had their case further postponed on Tuesday after the State indicated that it was not ready to proceed with the case since the cops had delayed handing over the docket to the courts.

SILAS NKALA STAFF REPORTER

MDC-T councillor for Ward 7 James Sithole (41) and MDC-T secretary for Makokoba district Cornelius Nyatsanga (51) have been charged with contravening the Public Order and Security Act (Posa) Chapter 11:17.

The trial did not take off after the State advised the defence that it had just received the docket from the police and had not yet prepared itself to try the case.

The case was then postponed to July 2.

The lawyer for the two Lison Ncube confirmed the postponement.

“We did not go for trial as planned because the State is saying it is not yet ready to try the case,” Ncube said.

“They are saying they just received the docket from the police today and have not yet prepared for the trial as they needed the record to prepare their case.”

Allegations against Sithole and Nyatsanga were that on May 23 2014 at around 4pm and at Nguboyenja housing offices in Bulawayo, Nyatsanga booked Tshaka Youth Centre in Makokoba for the holding of an MDC-T district meeting for May 24 between 10am and 11am.

On May 24 at 8am, Nyatsanga went to Stanley Hall in Makokoba and handed Sipho Billa, the caretaker, a booking notification from the Bulawayo City Council authorising the use of the venue for a public meeting.

On the same day at 10am, Sithole went to Tshaka Youth Centre and ordered that the main gate be opened so that people could enter the venue of the meeting.

The meeting went ahead without the authorities being notified as stipulated by the Act.