March and March denies Durban CBD violence as state fights bail for parolee Wandile Nsibande

March and March members were camped at the refugee centre on Moore Road when protests broke out in Durban’s central business district on October 10, not in the CBD itself, the movement’s account to the Durban Magistrate’s Court has set out. That claim is now the centre of a bail fight over one of its members, Wandile Nsibande, 36, who appeared before the court on Friday with co-accused Sphelele ‘Magolide’ Shinga and Malizo Dzanibe.

Nsibande is charged with inciting public violence and resisting arrest. He denies both. His lawyer, Xolani Zuma, played audio and video recordings in court which he said showed the movement was not involved in the protests that erupted in the city centre that day. Among them was an audio recording of police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda explaining what had happened during the protests. According to Zuma, the recording made it clear that March and March members had been camping at the refugee centre on Moore Road rather than in the CBD where the protests took place.

That is a claim made in bail proceedings by a lawyer acting for an accused man. The State has not accepted it, and the court has not ruled on it. What the hearing did establish is that the question of who was in the CBD on October 10 is now being argued in open court, with the movement’s own legal team putting the police’s public account of that day before a magistrate.

For South Africans following the immigration and enforcement argument in Durban, the hearing matters because it is the first time the movement’s account of October 10 has been tested under oath rather than in press statements. Residents and traders in the CBD have been clear about what they want from the state on enforcement. What happened on the streets that day, and who was on them, is now a matter for the court.

As IOL reported on 16 October, the State opposed bail. Senior prosecutor Roshiela Benimadho told the court that Nsibande would endanger public safety, undermine the proper functioning of the justice system, evade trial and commit further offences. She said there was no personal vendetta against him. She maintained that he had resisted arrest and played a video recording in court which she said showed him challenging police officers to shoot him. According to the prosecutor, Nsibande was aggressive and carrying a stick.

“The accused was placed on parole on April 15, 2022, and he is still under supervision until 2034,” Benimadho said.

Nsibande conceded that he was on parole. He told the court that the assault case against him in Eshowe had since been withdrawn. In an affidavit read out by Zuma, he said he would not evade trial, interfere with State witnesses or obstruct police investigations. He said he did not have a passport and had a 13-month-old son whom he supported. He provided an alternative address in Pinetown.

“I have no fear for my wellbeing or safety should I be granted bail,” he told the court.

Nsibande said he was unmarried and worked as a musician, earning about R5,000 a month. He asked the court to grant him bail of R1,000.

The parole history before the court is not a small detail. Nsibande was convicted of robbery and kidnapping in connection with the case of Kavisha Seevnarain, who was thrown off a bridge at uMkhomazi more than 15 years ago. That conviction, and the parole that followed it, is the ground on which the State is asking the court to keep him in custody while the new charges are decided.

Zuma is also the husband of March and March leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma. That relationship was not raised by the State as a ground for opposing bail, and the prosecutor said there was no personal vendetta against the accused.

The bail proceedings continue.

The Enquirer will follow the matter as it returns to the Durban Magistrate’s Court, and will report the outcome of the bail application when the magistrate rules.