Cape Town - Seven "ringleaders" of a plot to
dump human faeces at the Western Cape legislature were acquitted in the Cape
Town Magistrate's Court on Wednesday.
Andile Lili, Mzwithemba Victor Gulwa,Yadani Kulanti,
Thembela Mbanjwa, Xoliswa Ngwekazi, Yanga Mlingwana and Phamela Nyakaza
appeared before Magistrate Jasthree Steyn.
Steyn found that although the seven chose not to testify
in their own defence, the State had provided insufficient evidence to prove
their culpability on all charges.
He said the prosecution had been a "futile
exercise", made worse by the numerous inconsistencies in the testimonies
of four police witnesses.
Lili, a Ses'Khona People's Rights Movement leader, and
his co-accused punched their fists in the air when they were acquitted.
A packed public gallery of supporters shouted
"Amandla" and sang while a smiling Steyn watched them leave his
courtroom.
The seven were charged with contravening a municipal
bylaw dictating the proper removal of human waste. The alternative charges
related to conspiring or inciting under the Riotous Assemblies Act.
The seven were arrested with 176 protesters who
disembarked from two carriages at the Esplanade train station in Woodstock last
June.
Several people had allegedly been carrying portable flush
toilets and singing freedom songs which included a reference to Western Cape Premier
Helen Zille as a dog.
Some carried the human waste in blue municipal bags
contained in milk crates.
Lili identified himself to a warrant officer who asked
him what they were doing at the station. Apparently Lili had said they were on
their way to Cape Town to throw faeces at the provincial legislature.
Charges were later withdrawn against the 176 protesters.
Outside the court building, around 150 supporters
gathered peacefully under the watchful eye of public order police vans.
They embraced Lili as he informed them of the outcome.
