Johannesburg - No Constitutional Court help, no presidential pardon, but on Tuesday night lawyers were frantically searching for a way to keep AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo out of jail.
Dalindyebo’s time officially runs out at 4pm on Wednesday, his deadline for reporting to jail to serve 12 years.
“He’s still at home. There are legal avenues that we are trying to reach,” said Chief Mfundo Bovulengwe Mtirara on Dalindyebo’s behalf.
“The legal team is trying to prepare an application for extension of bail until early next year.”
Mtirara said the lawyers wanted to study the Supreme Court of Appeal judgment and the Constitutional Court’s dismissal of Dalindyebo’s appeal. He couldn’t say what legal avenues might be pursued.
On October 1, the Supreme Court of Appeal rejigged Dalindyebo’s conviction and sentence, dismissing his culpable homicide conviction but confirming convictions of arson, kidnapping, defeating the ends of justice and assault, and reducing his effective sentence from 15 years to 12.
On December 2, the Constitutional Court dismissed Dalindyebo’s appeal attempt.
On Tuesday, the Department of Justice and Correctional Services dismissed rumours of a presidential pardon. “Lately, there have been some reports suggesting the president may grant King Dalindyebo a presidential pardon. At the moment, the Department of Justice and the ministry have not received such an application from King Dalindyebo,” said spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga.
“The role of the Ministry of Justice and Correctional Services is to provide administrative support to the president, who exercises his powers to grant or not to grant pardon, in terms of the constitution.
“This supportive role en-tails receiving an application for pardon, obtaining all relevant information to the application for pardon and thereafter drafting the necessary documents for the president’s consideration.
“The president then applies his mind to the facts placed before him when deciding on an application for pardon.”
He added: “Legally, there is nothing preventing any person who has been convicted and sentenced from applying for a presidential pardon before serving a sentence.
“It should therefore be clarified that the president and the minister have not given any impression that they may intervene in the matter involving King Dalindyebo as that would be interfering with the legal process.”
After his Constitutional Court appeal failed, Dalindyebo’s bail conditions became an order of court, said Mhaga, and “he is expected to present himself to the head of Mthatha Correctional Centre within 14 days of the dismissal of his application, which ends on December 23, 2015”.
It is understood that if Dalindyebo fails to hand himself over by close of business on Wednesday, the National Prosecuting Authority would apply for a warrant for his arrest and send the police after him.
The case relates to incidents in 1995 and 1996 on Dalindyebo’s farm in the Eastern Cape, when he disciplined his subjects.
Their homes were burnt down and the families evicted. Three men were accused of housebreaking and rape, and were so badly assaulted that one died and another became mentally impaired.
A fourth man, accused of murder, was assaulted and died, and the dead man’s father was ordered not to report the killing to the police.
The Star
* Use IOL’s Facebook and Twitter pages to comment on our stories. See links below.