?The trial of four men charged with the murder of former ANCYL secretary-general Sindiso Magaqa has been adjourned until next week Tuesday. The trial finally resumed on Tuesday after a couple of postponements at the Pietermaritzburg High Court in KwaZulu Natal. The trial was adjourned on Wednesday when only three of the four suspects, Sibonelo Myeza, Mbulelo Mpofana and Sibusiso Ncengwa appeared in court while their co-accused Mlungisi Ncalane was nowhere to be seen.

TRIAL ADJOURNED 

The trial was adjourned when it emerged in court that accused number four, Ncalane, could not be in court after he was re-arrested on charges of domestic violence, which he allegedly committed in December 2022 while out on bail. His legal representative Advocate Shane Matthews told the court that Ncalane was appearing in the KwaDukuza Magistrates Court for the matter. The four are facing charges of conspiracy to commit murder, murder, attempted murder, malicious damage to property and unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition, with one being a prohibited firearm. Prosecutor Lawrence Gcaba argued that the State was ready to proceed with the trial. "If we knew prior about Mr Ncalane's absence, we would have made alternative arrangements for the sitting on this matter," Gcaba told the court. Myeza, Mpofana and Ncalane were each granted R5 000 bail by the Umzimkhulu Magistrates Court in February 2022 weeks after their arrest. Ncengwa was the first to be arrested and charged with Magaqa's murder, and he remains behind bars. He was already facing separate charges related to a September 2017 cash-in-transit heist. Myeza and Mpofana's bail has been extended until Tuesday.  

MAGAQA'S MURDER 

Magaqa was shot and wounded in an ambush, when he and two other ANC councillors were shot in July 2017 at a spaza shop in Mzimkhulu, south of Durban. Magaqa was an ANC councillor in Umzimkhulu at the time of his death. According to an ANC member and whistleblower, Thabiso Zulu, Magaqa was killed for standing against corruption during the revamping of the Memorial Hall in Umzimkhulu, which was set at R4 million but went up to more than R16 million. In 2019, Mluleki Ndobe who was the Harry Gwala mayor at the time, was arrested and charged with Magaqa's murder. The case against him was provisionally withdrawn and he committed suicide a year later. He was a deputy speaker of the KZN legislature at the time.