'I won’t give in': Andile Lungisa to head to SCA after High Court dismisses his leave to appeal

Nelson Mandela Bay ANC councillor Andile Lungisa says he is not discouraged or worried after the Grahamstown High Court dismissed his leave to appeal his two-year sentence for assault.

"I am fine. I will exercise my legal options and take the matter further," he said on Tuesday.

"We are taking the matter to the SCA in Bloemfontein. We are confident that we have a chance in a higher court. Even though it doesn’t guarantee a positive result, but it’s worth a try to escalate the matter," Lungisa said.

"I will press on, I won’t give in.”

Lungisa was found guilty of assault after smashing a glass jug over the head of former mayoral committee member for transport, Rano Kayser, following a council meeting which turned chaotic in October 2016.

Kayser sustained multiple lacerations to his head and neck, with pictures at the time showing him in a shirt drenched in blood.

In 2018, Lungisa was sentenced to an effective two years in jail and was sent to PE Correctional Centre, known as Rooi Hel.

He only spent 16 days behind bars before being granted leave to appeal.

He was welcomed by a large group of ANC supporters who had stood waiting for him outside the prison in pouring rain.

In her judgment on Tuesday, Judge Judit Roberson said he didn’t think the judgment by the magistrate’s court was wrong.

"The magistrate was not wrong in considering that the appellant was not remorseful. It was clear when he testified in mitigation that he did not accept responsibility for his actions.”

She said the judgment was a robust one, adding that she would have imposed a lesser sentence. "But the difference between what I would have imposed and the actual sentence is not so appreciable that it is a ground for interference," said Roysen.

Acting judge Feziwe Renqe agreed with the judgment.

News24