Magistrate to decide fate of 10 MDC activists

Bulawayo provincial magistrate, Tancy Dube will today decide the fate of 10 activists from the Welshman Ncube-led MDC facing charges of throwing flyers with their party's campaign messages at the State House in Bulawayo after they applied for discharge at the close of the State case yesterday.

Their lawyer, Matshobane Ncube, made the application arguing that the State had failed to prove its case against his clients.

Ncube said, his clients should not be put on their defence as that would be tantamount to bolstering an otherwise weak State case.

But the State, represented by Jerry Mutsindikwa, opposed the application.

Dube will make her ruling today in the afternoon.

Mandlenkosi Sibanda (18), Andrew Nyathi (32), Siamatende Dick Munsaka (50), Jackson Lunga (28), Clever Sibanda (18), Mthulisi Nkiwane (23), Sharlene Ndlovu (23), Lillian Moyo (26) Joseph Ndlovu (30) and a juvenile aged (17) were again not formally charged with being a criminal nuisance.

They are all out of custody on $20 bail each.

Charges against them are that on September 17 last year, at about 1:30pm, the 10, acting in common purpose, went to the State House along Shollor Road, Sauerstown suburb.

They allegedly threw some flyers with their party's campaign messages into the State House yard through the fence.

However, they were allegedly spotted by soldiers guarding the place who summoned them but reportedly ran in different directions.

The soldiers allegedly gave chase and managed to apprehend the juvenile and Sibanda, who implicated others leading to their arrest.

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