Accused transported in underwear from KZN to Lusikisiki, massacre trial hears

Lawyers for two of the accused in the Lusikisiki massacre trial told the Mthatha High Court on Monday that their clients were transported long distances after their arrests without being allowed to dress, arguing that their rights were violated. Counsel for Bonga Hintsa and Aphiwe Ndende said the men were arrested in Port Shepstone on October 16 2024, wearing only their underwear, and were driven from KwaZulu-Natal to the Eastern Cape in that state. “My client was arrested half-naked, only wearing his trunks [boxer shorts].

“Together with [Ndende] they were transported from Port Shepstone to Lusikisiki,” Zama Somahela, who represents Hintsa, said. Mawande Nokwali, for Ndende, told judge Richard Brooks that the treatment of the accused was inhumane and they were not treated with dignity. Hintsa and Ndende were arrested in Bhobhoyi township in Port Shepstone, along with another man, Onele “Fish” Jele, who is not linked to the Lusikisiki killings but was wanted in connection with a separate murder case in Flagstaff.

Their photographs had been circulated in the media a day before their arrests. Another accused, Songezo Mashiya Vuma, was arrested later. Since Friday, the defence has been cross-examining Sergeant Noluthando Rapita, a member of the task team investigating the killings.

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Nokwali told the court that even after arriving in the Eastern Cape, the accused were not provided with clothes until shortly before being detained at the Lusikisiki police station. “They spent the whole day just wearing trunks,” Somahela said. Rapita denied the allegations, stating that the men were fully dressed when she received them at Mbizana from Port Shepstone police.

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