Arrest warrant issued for alleged unrest instigator Bonginkosi Khanyile

An arrest warrant has been issued for Fees Must Fall activist Bonginkosi Khanyile after he failed to appear in the Durban Magistrates Court on Monday.

Khanyile is alleged to be one of the instigators of the unrest that gripped South Africa in July.

The Fees Must Fall activist is facing charges of inciting public violence and holding an illegal gathering during the unrest.

The 31-year-old Khanyile was arrested in August in connection with the unrest and was released on R5,000 bail.

After not appearing in court on Monday, Khanyile’s bail was provisionally forfeited.

The warrant of arrest was stayed until 10 January, at which point Khanyile will have to provide a reason why he did not show up to court on Monday.

His case was also postponed to 8 February.

July unrest

Khanyile was charged with inciting public violence and holding an illegal gathering after he appeared in videos initially encouraging people in a Shoprite store to demand that former president Jacob Zuma be released from jail and then, during the unrest, telling people to continue rioting and looting until Zuma was released.

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After Khanyile was arrested, his mother complained he had been treated like a “hardened and wanted criminal”.

She questioned why her son was arrested at his student residence at Wits University at 2am.

Previous run-ins with the law

In 2019, Khanyile received a three-year prison sentence, which was suspended for five years. He was also ordered to serve three years under house arrest.

In 2018, he pleaded guilty to four charges related to the 2016 Fees Must Fall protests in KwaZulu-Natal.

His guilty plea was related to public violence, possession of a dangerous weapon and two counts of failure to comply with police orders.

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