A tug of war for the truth continues at the Johannesburg Magistrate’s court as an alleged property hijacker relentlessly tries to prove his innocence.
Alleged property hijacker Jonathan Constable and co-accused Bongani Kathide appeared again for their bail hearing on March 12.
Their defence, Dumisani Mabunda, said a property expert by the name of Ryno De Beer came to testify.
Mabunda said De Beer’s testimony added to the already buckling state’s case.
The court postponed Constable’s matter to March 15.
Mabunda said De Beer had agreed to become a witness.
He said the testimony added more evidence that his clients had done nothing wrong.
Mabunda, who is still convinced the state has no case, said telling people not to pay rent was not a crime. He said his clients were facing a fraud charge and not an intimidation charge, which are two different things.
He added that when someone has an issue with tenants not paying rent, there are other avenues of assistance such as the claims court and the estate agency board.
He said there was insufficient evidence to prove his clients had done anything wrong.
Mabunda further took a jab at City mayor Herman Mashaba and said Mashaba was wrong to label his client “a property hijacking kingpin”.
He said there were still property hijackers out there occupying buildings.
Mabunda hopes to expose the city for misleading the public in labelling his clients as hijackers without proof and before due process was followed.
The City’s Group Forensic and Investigation Service (GFIS) spokesperson, Lucky Sindane, said the investigations unit still believes Constable is the mastermind behind several property hijackings.
“We are not saying all properties,” he said. He added that there were many other cases to which Constable’s name has been linked and the fact that Constable was wanted at a certain point.
Sindane pleaded with people to consider letting the legal system run its course as preemptive judgements were never a noble idea.
He said the investigative unit vigorously checks facts with various institutions.
“We vigorously check our facts with institutions,” and added that the investigation unit plans to target more hijacked properties.
Sindane lauded the mayor for actively responding to the backlog of hijacked properties and for doing something about the matter.
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