Senior ANC member in Newcastle, Arthur Zwane, who was hoping to be freed on bail on Wednesday after allegedly shooting a security guard who asked him to sanitise, will spend a further two days behind bars.
Zwane, who had been in police custody since his arrest on Friday last week could not apply for bail at the eMadadeni Magistrate court where he briefly appeared on Wednesday morning as the court had no lights due to power outages.
A prosecutor at the court confirmed that the bail application for Zwane, who is the former ANC’s eMalahleni regional chairperson, was moved to Friday.
According to KwaZulu-Natal police, Zwane, alongside two other people, face attempted murder charges after allegedly shooting the security guard at a hardware shop in Newcastle.
A fight between the security guard and the three allegedly broke out after the suspects ignored a request by the security guard that they should first sanitise before entering the shop.
Zwane, who is facing another attempted murder charge in the Durban Magistrates Court for pointing a firearm at Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) MEC Sipho Hlomuka, first tried to get released on bail on Friday.
However, the court postponed the matter to today.
Zwane, a former ANC provincial executive committee (PEC) member, in November last year made headlines after storming into an ANC provincial working committee meeting at the party’s Durban provincial headquarters.
The former ANC eMalahleni regional chairperson then pointed a firearm at Hlomuka, who later laid criminal charges.
In January the Durban Magistrate court released Zwane on R1000 bail after he handed himself to the Durban police on learning that Hlomuka had laid charges against him.
While the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal stayed mum on reasons that led to the confrontation between Zwane and Hlomuka.
Provincial National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Natasha Ramkisson, could not be reached for an update on the court case between Zwane and Hlomuka.
While Zwane no longer holds any official position within the ANC in the province, he remains influential within the ANC in Newcastle and the entire eMalahleni region.
ANC provincial spokesperson, Nhlakanipho Ntombela, said the party did not have the full details around Zwane’s latest attempted murder charges.