Lamola backs Cekeshe for presidential pardon

Following a double blow for #FeesMustFall activist Kanya Cekeshe in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court where his bail application and application for leave to appeal were dismissed, Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Ronald Lamola announced that his office was in the process of urgently assisting him with an application for a presidential pardon.

Lamola tweeted that the department would assist Cekeshe with an application for a presidential pardon or other legally available avenues.

His spokesperson Chrispin Phiri told The Citizen that the ministry had spoken to Cekeshe’s counsel and would make sure the matter received “the necessary attention.”

Magistrate Theunis Carstens dismissed Cekeshe’s bail application despite Cekeshe’s defense advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi arguing that previous representation for the activist had misled him into a guilty plea.

Cekeshe appeared in court, supported by fellow activist Mcebo Dlamini, who was also at the forefront of university protests calling for free education. In the gallery alongside Dlamini was Kanya’s mother Takazi, who could not hold back her tears following the magistrate’s ruling.

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