Following the recent court appearance of five of the seven suspects allegedly involved in the murder of AKA and Tebello ‘Tibz’ Motsoane, eyebrows have been raised on the lawyers involved in defending the accused.
This comes after the five suspects, Lindokuhle Mkhwanazi, Eddie Myeza, Lindani and Lindokuhle Ndimande as well as Mziwethemba Gwabeni had already acquired private legal counsel before the case started.
After the suspects made their first court appearance on Thursday, Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi questioned the motive of the lawyers involved in representing the accused.
Mkhwanazi explained that most criminals appearing in court for offences are often those who are unemployed, so for them to be represented by “expensive lawyers” is very concerning.
He added that he was unsure whether these lawyers were involved purely for the reason to ensure that the trial is done fairly, or whether it is motivated by a large sum of money.
“To pitch up here represented by very expensive lawyers is concerning. It just says to us, ‘Are these lawyers doing this thing because they want to serve so that people get their rights in terms of the law or they are doing it for money,’” Mkhwanazi said.
“We tend to suspect that maybe the latter could be the money. But I am not a lawyer, I was never a lawyer, so I don’t know what it entails or under what circumstances you represent someone,” he added.
Meanwhile, the case has been postponed to 6 March for further investigation.
