The accused constantly changing legal representation was one of the reasons the State cited as delaying the start of the pre-trial conference in the case against 64 people accused of being instigators of the 2021 July Unrest. They appeared in the Durban High Court on Wednesday. | Shelley Kjonstad/ Independent Newspapers
Durban — With some of the alleged 2021 July Unrest instigators not prepared to make formal admissions ahead of trial, the State was likely to call more than 100 witnesses.
Above these witnesses, the State intends to call 20 core witnesses, including experts.
This was revealed by senior State prosecutor advocate Mahen Naidu on Wednesday in the Durban High Court, where the 64 accused appeared.
An accused making formal admissions as per Section 220 of the Criminal Procedure Act means the State will not have to prove the facts admitted to by the accused as alleged by the State.
The pre-trial conference in the matter is yet to begin after a number of delays on the part of the accused, something Naidu said was a concern for the State.
He explained that the matter had been transferred from the regional court to the high court, having been on the high court roll from January 30, to secure legal representation for the accused, who have changed lawyers multiple times.
Naidu said with the case involving multiple charges and a docket containing 17 000 pages, the move from one lawyer to another brought complications, which was one of the reasons the pre-trial conference had not been concluded.
The accused have been charged in connection with the unrest and public violence that occurred. They face charges of conspiracy to commit public violence, incitement to commit public violence, terrorism, sedition and conspiracy to commit murder, among others.
There were previously 65 accused. However one, Ntombizonke Zanele Msalela, died earlier this year.
On Wednesday, two of the accuseds’ private attorneys withdrew and they opted to apply for Legal Aid.
Naidu said in January the case was adjourned to April 8 for a pre-trial conference, which did not start because of the accused changing lawyers, and those who had legal representation had not consulted their lawyers as some of the accused were from other provinces. He said his concern was that the accused were not treating the matter with a sense of urgency.
“The 17 000-page docket includes WhatsApp chats from groups – there are thousands of these, up to 10 000 pages, based on chats including videos and voice notes. We have experts and their reports are also quite substantial,” said Naidu.
Judge Jacqueline Henriques set a deadline for the defence, those who had not consulted, to have a preliminary consultation and return pre-trial conference forms along with formal admissions, for those making any, to the State ahead of the matter sitting again in July.
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