By Nontsikelelo Mthethwa
Community members of Dube in Soweto are demanding justice a man released from jail on a presidential pardon for murdering his father is accused of murdering his nephew.
Russel Zwane was convicted of killing his father, Douglas Zwane, received a presidential pardon and was released from jail. He was arrested again on the 26th of March 2022, the same day he is accused of having murdered his nephew, Tshepo Zwane.
Zwane was expected to appear in court on Tuesday but for the second time in a row, he did not come.
The family and community members expressed their frustration and their loss of hope and trust in the justice system as they felt like the system is protecting the accused.
“There is no reason that is given on why he is not here, except for the flimsy reason that, he was not brought to court” said Vusani Motha who is an uncle to the accused and grandfather to the victim.
Motha, said since they are not getting satisfying answers as to why the accused keeps missing his court appearances, they have decided to go to correctional services to check what is really happening. "We have decided to go to correctional services and find out the reason for Russel Zwane's fallout to appear in court" said Motha.
Ntsoaki Padi from the Dube neighborhood said as the community they also need answers because the no-show from the accused is creating anxiety to the point where they are even asking themselves if the accused is still in custody. Padi said they are now wondering if the accused has escaped from jail because the reason given to them to explain why he is not coming to hiss bail hearings do not make sense.
" We need answers and we can't just accept that maybe Zwane does not respond when his name is called out on the day of his appearance, we cannot accept that," said Padi.
The accused’s legal representation declined to comment on why their client was yet again not in court.
The matter was once again remanded for the 9th time and the accused is expected to appear for his formal bail application on May 31, 2022
