The ANC fears the man accused of murdering its eThekwini leader will be killed if released on bail, according to provincial executive member, Senzo Mkhize.
“We fear that people who worked with him will kill him,” Mkhize said, reacting to the release of Xolani Zulu on bail on Monday.
Zulu, who is accused of killing eThekwini ANC leader Sbu Sibiya, was granted R15,000 bail in the Durban High Court on Monday.
Zulu was refused bail in October this year by Magistrate Kevin Brouton, but appealed in the high court on Monday and won.
Scores of ANC members who gathered outside the court on Monday reacted angrily to the news that Zulu had been released on bail. Mkhize said the African National Congress believed there was a likelihood that Zulu would be killed by people he allegedly plotted with to kill Sibiya.
“If that happens, it will mean that the case will also die. We don’t want that to happen.”
During the appeal hearing on Monday, the State argued that Zulu’s life would be danger if he was released on bail. “If he is released, his life will not be safe. There has been a huge public outcry about this case,” said State advocate, Nombulelo Mbatha.
Zulu’s advocate Jimmy House told the court there was no evidence to support that Zulu’s life would be in danger if he was released on bail.
He pointed out that Brouton had used the word “possibility” instead of likelihood when he rejected Zulu’s bail application. The court agreed with House.
Sibiya, a regional ANC secretary, was killed near his house in Inanda, Durban in July this year.
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