Sibanyoni’s lawyer accuses state of violating clients’ rights

Joe Sibanyoni's legal counsel, Advocate Shaun Abrahams, has accused the state of infringing on the constitutional rights of his clients. Abrahams claims the state has deliberately withheld the final charge sheet from his clients since they requested it on June 12th. Furthermore, Abrahams alleges that police have not verified whether his clients are adhering to their bail conditions by reporting to a local police station.

Sibanyoni and his three co-accused were recently brought before the Delmas Magistrates' Court in Mpumalanga, facing charges of extortion and money laundering. The court case has been rescheduled to October 20th. Abrahams argues that these grievances are "materially and substantially prejudicial to our clients" and violate their constitutional rights as outlined in Section 35(1)(a), (b), (d), and (i) of the Constitution.

Specifically, Abrahams asserts that this situation constitutes a "direct affront to my clients' rights to be informed of their charge with sufficient detail to defend themselves." He emphasizes that this matter should have been thoroughly investigated and that the final charge sheet should have been provided to them by now.