NPA says it is, for now, pursuing charges of instigating violence, while a criminal law expert says, if these are proven, murder charges could be added.
A fire engulfs a shop during looting in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal. File picture.Those who instigated and encouraged the deadly violence which gripped Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal and left hundreds dead could face murder or treason charges, according to a criminal law expert.
“It is definitely not a trivial crime. The courts will view this crime in a very serious light, especially as lives have been lost,” said Grant. He said depending on the evidence, those behind the violence could be charged for violating the Protection of the Constitutional Democracy and Against Terrorist and Related Activities Act.
He said terrorism and treason carried a sentence of up to life imprisonment while inciting violence carried a sentence of between five and 10 years. “To prove sedition prosecutors would have to show that there was the hostile intention to challenge the constitutional authority without meaning to overthrow the state.”
He said the burning of national key installations, disruptions of economic activities, blockading of national roads — leading to disruptions of key supplies such as food and medicine with dire consequences for thousands of people — could fall within the parameters of the Protection of Constitutional Democracy Against Terrorist and Related Activities Act.
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