Cape Town - The Cape Argus took centre stage at the court case of the four men charged in connection with throwing human waste on the steps of the Western Cape provincial legislature in 2013.
On Tuesday, Ses’khona People’s Rights Movement leaders Andile Lili and Loyiso Nkohla, with Thembela Mbanjwa and Songezo Mvandaba, were back in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court.
The men face charges of contravening sections of the National Environment Management Waste Act for emptying buckets of human faeces on the steps of the legislature in Wale Street as a means of protest on June 3, 2013. They have pleaded not guilty.
On Tuesday, prosecutor Leon Snyman attempted to hand up a colour copy of a newspaper article that had appeared in the Cape Argus on June 4, 2013.
Snyman told the court he would not be calling the photographer to testify.
He asked that the court look at the photograph and determine how much weight to attach to it.
Defence attorney Duncan Korabie for the four accused objected, saying that if the photograph was to be admitted as evidence “the individual who took that photo must come to court”.
Snyman said the State could not access the original photo which was in the possession of the media house. “We allege that the accused did something and here is a photo of the accused doing it.”
Korabie held firm in his argument that the photograph did not qualify as “real evidence”.
He said later: “If you had the original photograph it would have been different, it would’ve been real evidence. But you don’t, you have a newspaper article.
“This is an attempt by the State to ambush my clients with a silent witness.”
The court decided that the photographs be admitted, provisionally adding that a ruling regarding the admissibility of the clippings would be made later.
The State had called two more witnesses - a woman employed at the legislature who identified “a tall gentleman”, who she later learnt was Nkohla, as one of the men she saw emptying containers of waste, and a police officer who locked the doors after he heard the commotion and got a whiff of a bad smell.
The trial continues.
Cape Argus