Cape Town - The lives of two men at the centre of an assault and crimen injuria case, in which one was found guilty of urinating on the other from the balcony of the popular Tiger Tiger nightclub in Claremont, have been irrevocably changed by the ongoing trial.
The complainant, Michelle Puis Nomgcana, has lost his ability to earn an income after the incident.
“The guys over at the taxi rank do not want me around them. I have been shamed like a pig. My children are starving now because I cannot generate income. This is not fair. It is, in fact, frustrating,” he said outside court on Monday.
Djavan Arrigone, a 21-year-old UCT student found guilty of the two offences by the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court last year, has suffered a drop in his grades and lost his high-paying job as a model with high-profile agency Boss.
Earlier, Arrigone’s defence lawyer, Eben Grobbelaar, made submissions to the court asking for a lenient sentence.
Magistrate Siviwe Yaki found Arrigone guilty of assault and crimen injuria for the January 2014 incident.
Grobbelaar, who submitted two reports - one from Correctional Services and another from a Nicro social worker - said his client was a suitable candidate for rehabilitation via community service.
“We wish that the court considers a sentence which will allow the accused to ease into becoming a member of society and can be an asset to society. There is no need for rehabilitation in prison; he is a low-risk offender and does not need direct imprisonment,” Grobbelaar said.
Highlighting the effects of the case on the student, he told the court that Arrigone had suffered from depression and anxiety.
“In 2014, when the incident occurred, the amount of negative publicity in the media and social media, with threats and verbal abuse, the accused became anxious and depressed. He started seeing a psychologist and was given anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medicine.”
Arrigone was a stellar student who passed his matric with five distinctions, Grobbelaar said. In his first year at UCT studying BCom in Computer Sciences, he made it onto the Dean’s list.
“When the incident occurred in 2014, the accused was doing his second year; that year he failed three subjects.”
Grobbelaar said the accused had also suffered financially due to the incident. He said Arrigone was fired from his high paying modelling job at Boss Models.
“He cannot afford to pay a fine,” said Grobbelaar, adding that his client was remorseful and had apologised on and off the record to the complainant, Nomgcana.
State prosecutor Phumeza Zondi asked that the court impose a sentence that would have a rehabilitative effect.
“These are serious counts in nature. I ask that the court considers the interest of society, media and the complainant in particular. The complainant testified before court and said he is the laughing stock in the community. We ask for imprisonment or option of a fine,” said Zondi.
The case was postponed to September 30 for sentencing.
Arrigone was charged with crimen injuria after he urinated from the balcony of the Tiger Tiger nightclub in Claremont on January 24, 2014 during a night of drinking. When he finished, he went back inside to dance.
The urine landed on Nomgcana, who at the time was working as a taxi driver and waiting for customers on the street below.
In previous court appearances, Arrigone admitted relieving himself from the balcony, but denied aiming at Nomgcana, saying he couldn't see who was below him.
“At the time my attention was fixated on two friends standing next to me. They were both laughing at me. They thought I was being funny.”
Nomgcana said his dignity was impaired by the incident. He has also alleged that Arrigone made racist remarks after he alerted the club’s bouncer and entered the establishment to confront the student and his friends.
Arrigone has denied this.
Outside the court on Monday Nomgcana said he was frustrated by the court proceedings.
“It’s been three years that I have been waiting for justice. Since then I have lost my job, my children are in need of financial support, nothing is going right for me,” he said. The former taxi driver said he believed that by urinating on him Arrigone had passed bad luck on him.
“In my culture it is bad luck for someone to urinate on you.
“Right now I have been consulting sangomas and they want R150 000 to perform a cleansing ceremony; I need to slaughter an animal before things go back to normal.” He said all three of his vehicles were at home; he had no money to maintain or use them for taxi operations.
The case in the Equality Court resumes next Thursday, with the sentencing in the criminal matter resuming a day later.
Cape Argus