Durban — A former police constable alleged to have killed his mother in 2022 complained to his Legal Aid lawyer in court about the media reporting on his case.
Lungisani Xaba on Wednesday in the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court raised his voice while seated in the dock speaking to his lawyer with the interpreter with him, and he pointed at the journalists, asking if they were allowed to be there, adding that they were writing about him.
“Everyone everywhere is reading about me, they’re reading about me in Westville,” he said.
Xaba is alleged to have assaulted his elderly wheelchair-bound mother, Greta Xaba, with a plank with nails in it.
He was arrested on May 7, 2022, in KwaDabeka for assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
However, the charge was changed to murder on May 8 after his mother died.
He has been behind bars since his arrest in May 2022, has been refused bail twice, and has changed lawyers five times since making his first appearance in court.
On Wednesday, Xaba’s case was postponed to August for his pretrial conference.
In July, following his arrest, he was refused bail by Magistrate Wendalynn Robinson in the district court.
One of the reasons that Magistrate Robinson cited in refusing Xaba bail was that the investigating officer had told the court that Xaba was familiar with some of the State witnesses as well as the testimony they were expected to give. However, in his affidavit he was adamant that he did not know the witnesses.
The following year, in March, Xaba again applied for bail based on new facts. However, Magistrate Robinson ruled that the facts that he had presented to the court could not be considered new and were not enough for her to change her initial decision to refuse him bail.
Xaba’s new facts were that his children were suffering since his arrest.
In her ruling, Magistrate Robinson said that when she initially denied Xaba bail he was employed by the SAPS and he had failed to prove that his children’s needs were not being met.
WhatsApp your views on this story at 071 485 7995.
Daily News