Jutas Munyai, who stands accused of beating Livhuwani Rananga to death at Matangari village in December last year, was denied bail when he appeared in the Thohoyandou Magistrate's Court on Monday afternoon (8 May).
Leading evidence on behalf of the State, advocate Angela Makwela cross-examined two state witnesses, Mr Maano Mavhungu and Mrs Thelma Marole from the Vhembe United Group, about the memorandum they submitted to the court last Friday (5 May). The memorandum contained the signatures from members of the public who marched outside the courthouse, demanding that the suspect should be denied bail. Both agreed that, if the suspect were given bail, chaos would ensue in the Matangari area at large, and in Matangari village in particular. The Matangari area include villages from Muhotoni to Matangari.
Mavhungu said the purpose of the memorandum was to make sure that peace reigned in the area. "Villagers are very angry about the circumstances surrounding the killing of Livhuwani Rananga. If he gets out on bail, there will be no peace in the area," he said.
The memorandum was accepted by the court as evidence. Defence lawyer advocate Cynthia Nemadzhilili was not happy about the memorandum's being accepted as evidence. When cross-examining the state witness, Thelma Marole, she said: "I put it to you that those who signed the memorandum were told to sign without knowing its contents," but Marole insisted that they were told the contents of the memorandum in advance and understood it.
Immediately after bail was denied, Nemadzhilili applied for leave to appeal the judgement, which was also granted. The case was postponed to 26 June for an appeal hearing.