Johannesburg - Nhlanhla “Lux” Mohlauli, the former leader of the Operation Dudula Movement and member of the Soweto Parliament, was sentenced on two counts: one for malicious property damage and one for breaking into a house with intent to steal.
He was sentenced by the Roodepoort Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson, Phindi Mjonondwane, Mohlauli, 35, was sentenced to two years of imprisonment wholly suspended for three years on condition that he was not convicted of housebreaking, and another five years of imprisonment, also wholly suspended for three years, provided he was not convicted of malicious damage to property during his suspension.
“The court added a further condition of him paying the complainant, Victor Ramarafe, an amount of R9 500 in cash on or before August 24, at 1pm for damages to his property.
“The NPA confirms that the complainant was compensated, and the proof of payment of the amount ordered by the court was presented in open court on August 24,” said Mjonondwane.
Mjonondwane said Mohlauli was arrested on March 24, 2022, following a complaint that was registered with the Dobsonville SAPS that members of the Dudula Movement descended on the complainant’s house in Dobsonville on March 20 in search of drugs.
Lux rose to prominence when he defended shopping malls in Soweto during the July 2021 looting riots after the arrest of former president Jacob Zuma.
What has happened to Mohlauli is a reflection of the negative anti-immigrant voices outweighing positive ones among 20 organisations and five individuals tracked by the Centre for Analytics and Behavioural Change (CABC) in the online xenophobia conversation in South Africa.
The CABC said it looked at organisations from May 1 to June 1, which included Operation Dudula, Scalabrini Centre, Passop, Patriotic Alliance, ActionSA, EFF, Put South Africans First, Sonke Gender Justice, Lawyers for Human Rights, Centre for Human Rights, CRL Rights Commission, Dullah Omar Institute for Constitutional Law Governance and Human Rights, Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia, All Truck Drivers Forum, Home Affairs, PSAFLive, Dudula News, Truth Panther, Helen Suzman Foundation and Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa.
While the five individuals selected include political leaders and/or public figures, these individuals are Gayton McKenzie, Kenny Kunene, Nhlanhla Lux, Julius Malema and Herman Mashaba.
“The organisations were ranked on a scale of one to 10, based on the content each author posted during the reporting period as well as the ‘in-depth expertise of the CABC’s research team, who have been monitoring South Africa’s xenophobia conversation since 2020 with a focus on the authors studied in this report’.
“A rating of one meant that an organisation or individual represented a strong sense of anti-xenophobia, actively countering xenophobia and positive sentiment towards foreign nations, while a rating of 10 meant that the organisation or individual was unequivocally xenophobic,” said CABC.
According to the report, ActionSA, Mashaba, Kunene and Lux all received a sentiment score of seven.
The CABC said Mashaba had previously been found unwittingly amplifying misinformation and disinformation.
“He has made a clear distinction to only have an issue with undocumented or illegal foreigners residing in South Africa. Patriotic Alliance co-founder Kenny Kunene is also clearly against illegal immigrants, such as his fellow co-founder, Gayton McKenzie,” added the CABC.
The Patriotic Alliance, led by McKenzie, has strong anti-immigrant views that are often shared on its social media platforms.
The Star