ANC councillor Andile Lungisa is petitioning Judge President Selby Mbenenge for leave to appeal both his conviction for assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm (GBH) and his effective two-year prison sentence.
Lungisa, 40, was convicted of assault GBH after smashing a glass water jug on the head of DA councillor Rano Kayser during a heated Nelson Mandela Bay council meeting in October 2016.
He was yesterday released on bail of R10 000 pending the outcome of his petition to the Grahamstown High Court after serving just 16 days of his two-year sentence.
Lungisa says in an affidavit that at the core of his petition for leave to appeal was whether or not he had intended to assault Kayser and the magistrate had misdirected himself in finding that he had.
Lungisa says he believed he was under attack and was defending himself when he belted Kayser over the head with the water jug. The incident was caught on video.
“My evidence was … that I reacted to what, was in my mind, an attack on me. That was my genuine belief and I acted to defend myself.”
He said the situation was chaotic and he had been faced by three members of the DA and he felt they posed a threat.
He said even if his actions were regarded as unlawful the magistrate should have dealt with his subjective belief that he was under attack.
He said if it was found he lacked intent to assault, he should be acquitted on the basis of putative, self or private defence.
He said the sentence was also shocking and disproportionate to the crime and he had been “sacrificed on the altar of deterrence”.
A co-accused‚ Gamalihleli Maqula‚ was acquitted on all charges in March when the court found that there was not enough evidence against him for a conviction.
Reacting to his earlier conviction Eastern Cape DA spokesman Mlindi Nhanha welcomed Lungisa’s punishment.
“It is important that public representatives found guilty of brutality and criminality are appropriately held accountable. The sentence passed down conveys the right message – that those who commit crime, even councillors, will be held to account. I commend the courts for taking Mr Lungisa to task and imposing an appropriate sentence,” he said.
l On Thursday, ankles in shackles, Lungisa launched his desperate bid for freedom with his new high-profile legal team claiming that the political heavyweight had been sacrificed at the altar of deterrence.
A busload of ANC supporters were dropped at the court to support Lungisa , with the likes of top provincial ANC official Mlibo Qoboshiyane and party stalwart Mike Xego also lending support.
In postponing the bail application to yesterday, Cannon said he had seen the court papers only during the course of yesterday.