Cape Town - Ululations pierced through the silence in the corridors of the Khayelitsha Magistrate’s Court as politician Andile Lili was found not guilty in his assault case.
He was charged on November 17 after he was accused of slapping Enkanini Primary School principal Siphiwe Hazel Ngcongca.
The incident reportedly happened at the school during a heated argument.
During the judgment the court said the State didn’t produce enough evidence to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the principal was assaulted.
And that there was no witness to support the accusation; instead, all the witnesses who claimed were present denied seeing the assault.
Ngcongca went to the doctor months after the alleged assault happened as she complained about dizziness.
Her witness told the court he didn’t see the assault but had a recording of the altercation; however, the cellphone with the audio was stolen.
The magistrate told the court that Lili was not guilty of the common assault charge.
As soon as the judgment was handed down, the politician’s supporters started singing and celebrating in the corridors.
Lili said he expected the verdict to be in his favour.
“I knew that this case was formulated just for the ANC conference and nothing else. It was that I shouldn’t contest the conference. This was the war of factions within the ANC.”
The ANC leader indicated that his days in court are far from over.
“I met with the investigator last week and we are going to open a case of perjury against the principal and her witness, those who alleged that I slapped her.
“I plan on suing the Education Department because I have spent more than R257000 on legal fees.”
Nolusindiso Matiwane, a supporter of Ngcongca, believes the judgment was unfair towards women.
“Nothing has changed with us because when you attend cases you either win or lose. We know we made a mark since we have been attending the case in January. We never gave up on the principal, we supported her.
“What saddens us is that the court took Lili’s side during the 16 Days of Activism Against gender-based violence. This means that there is no justice for women at all,” said Matiwane.
mandilakhe.tshwete@inl.co.za