THE trial of six Bulawayo-based Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) activists and two party legislators accused of criminal insult and defacing campaign posters was on Friday deferred toA November 1 and 17 this year, respectively.
Tshabalala-Pelandaba legislator Gift Siziva (30) is being charged together with Bulawayo Central MP Surrender Kapoikulu (51), party members Earnest Rafomoyo (55), Tendai Masocha (48), Simbarashe Dube (39) and Lovewell Mwinde.
They appeared before Western Commonage magistrate Progress Murandu who remanded them to November 17 because the third witness Shammela Nyoni was writing her Ordinary Level November Examination.
The defacing campaign posters matter was remanded to November 1.
It is alleged that on August 11 this year, Siziva and his accomplices went to Soneni Moyo’s residence and insulted her. Moyo was contesting against Siziva as another CCC candidate in the August 23 elections.
State witness, Sibongile Ndlovu, told the court that she saw all the CCC accused activists calling Moyo a thief.
“Ostallos (Siziva) was standing outside Moyo’s gate while others were singing, dancing, clapping their hands and insulting Moyo at the same time,” she said.
Ndlovu said there were more than 100 people with their cars at the house. She also said she took pictures of the incident, but Siziva’s lawyer Tinashe Runganga said they were not given such pictures.
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The witness denied being Moyo’s friend during cross examination although she is listed as her friend on the police statement. Ndlovu blamed the policeman for recording conflicting statements because he was a Shona speaker and did not hear clearly what she said in Ndebele.
“When I signed the statement, the police officer did not tell me or translate to me what he wrote,” Ndlovu told the court.
Moyo also testified that she felt unsafe after the alleged incident.
“My daughter narrated the whole story to me and she took a video of the incident in which Kapoikulu car was parked at my gate,” she said.
Runganga, however, said the video was not clear and did not show faces, while the audios were unclear to identify the accused persons’ voices.
Moyo averred that the insults embarrassed her because her children heard them being hauled at her.
