Cape Town train case postponed

The seven alleged "ringleaders" of a plot to dump human waste in Cape Town appeared in the Cape Town Magistrate's Court on Wednesday.

Former councillor and ANC Youth League (ANCYL) member Andile Lili and six others appeared before magistrate Chumani Giyosi late in the afternoon.

Giyosi rolled over the formal bail applications of Lili and two others to Thursday.

Four others were released on warnings and were told to appear again on August 2.

The group and 176 others were arrested on Monday morning and charged with public violence and convening a gathering without notice.

Captain Frederick van Wyk said they were arrested at the Esplanade railway station in Woodstock on Monday morning, while en route from the Chris Hani station to the Cape Town station.

He said 118 people on the 10.15am train were arrested and 66 on the 11.15am train.

They were allegedly on their way to dump human waste in the city.

The group had to be separated into smaller groups of 10 to 15 people, which were led into the court room in succession throughout Wednesday morning.

They were told to return to court on August 2, after further investigation, and ordered not to convene or take part in any protest without first getting permission.

They could not threaten, intimidate or assault any member of the public, or damage or threaten to damage public property.

Once the large group had appeared, they convened outside the court, singing, dancing and playing games in front of about 10 police officers wearing full riot gear.

A week ago, a group of people in Khayelitsha threw human waste at a bus and cars used for transport to a green economy event hosted by Western Cape premier Helen Zille.

A day before that, two men dumped faeces on the steps of the Western Cape legislature in a protest about portable flush toilets (PFTs).

De Lille then called on the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) to help the city educate residents in informal settlements about the benefits of PFTs.

Some residents feel the PFTs are another form of the bucket toilet system.

Magasela Mzobe, who introduced himself as the ANCYL national task team co-ordinator, explained the political stance on the issue.

"Throughout this saga, the name of the ANCYL has been mentioned and we felt as a task team we must come and summarise the problems of our people and give the necessary support that they need," he said outside court.

He said the ANCYL distanced itself from the faeces throwing, but not from raising poor service delivery.

"We are talking to them that there is a better way that we can employ in raising the plight of our people without having to throw faeces all over the province," he said.

"If they do not listen to that, we are forced then to look at the internal processes of disciplinary action."

Mzobe would spend Wednesday and Thursday inspecting the toilet situation at the Barcelona and Kanana informal settlements.

The State said on Wednesday it would object to the release of Lili and the other two on bail. It asked for a seven-day postponement to obtain bail information.

Lawyer Duncan Korabie, representing the three, accused the State of having political interests, and of making the seven out to be "ringleaders".

"They're being put up here as a show, not only to the court, but to the press," he charged.

"Accused number one [Lili] is a well-known politician. Where is he going to go to? His face has been in the newspapers since last week... You want to keep him in jail to make a statement."

Giyosi denied the State's request for a postponement, initially announcing at 4.30pm that the bail applications would take place immediately.

After hearing the State's concerns, he rolled the matter over and ordered that Lili and two others be kept in custody at the Cape Town police station rather than in prison.