Lawyers representing Bulawayo deputy mayor Councillor Edwin Ndlovu, Ward 28 Councillor Ntandoyenkosi Ndlovu and former councillor Alderman Rodney Jele have challenged the State’s bid to place the trio on remand in a case in which they are accused of attempting to extort US$52 000 from a local businessman.
The three appeared before Bulawayo Provincial Magistrate Isheunesu Matova on Monday, with the State seeking to place them on remand.
Cllr Edwin Ndlovu and Cllr Ntandoyenkosi Ndlovu are represented by Kholwani Ngwenya, while Jele is represented by Prince Butshe-Dube.
State representative Milton Moyo told the court that the State had sufficient evidence to warrant the trio being placed on remand.
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Ngwenya, however, opposed the application, arguing that the State had failed to establish a reasonable suspicion linking the accused persons to the alleged offences.
“A remand on this matter is not applicable. The State must place alleged facts that disclose all the elements of the alleged charge and there must be a nexus between the accused persons and the alleged charge,” Ngwenya said.
He argued that the State’s papers did not disclose the essential elements of bribery or extortion.
“The allegations bringing us here, based on the documents, are just the charge of bribery. There is an alternative charge of extortion. There is no reference to the essential elements of the crime alleged,” he said.
Ngwenya further challenged the State’s case against Cllr Ntandoyenkosi Ndlovu, arguing that his client was only mentioned once in the allegations.
“Ntandoyenkosi is only mentioned once in paragraph six. It says ‘to accomplish their mission, accused one (Jele) who knew the lease history of the hotel stand and project, acting in cahoots with accused two (Edwin) and accused three (Ntandoyenkosi), engaged the complainant via mobile phone and advised him that there was an interest over the stand from other business people to invest.’
“That’s the only paragraph against him. That’s why he is here. What offence can be extracted from there?”
Moyo maintained that the State had a strong case, pointing to witness statements, communication between the accused and complainant and the recovery of US$5 000.
“We do have evidence that accused person was involved in the commission of the offence. In the totality of the evidence we have, there is strong link between accused three (Ntandoyenkosi) and the offence,” Moyo said.
He argued that the court papers contained specific allegations linking the accused persons to the alleged extortion.
Ngwenya, however, maintained that the State’s reliance on common purpose did not cure the alleged gaps in its case.
“The State argues that its case hinges on common purpose. But there is no evidence linking accused person to the offence. It does not point to the facts as they appear on the court documents,” he said.
The defence also raised concerns over the circumstances surrounding the arrests of the accused persons.
Butshe-Dube told the court that Jele was denied access to legal representation and was allegedly forced to sign an affidavit.
“After being informed that he was under arrest, my client advised the officers that he wanted to seek legal counsel. At a later stage they forced him to sign an affidavit. This was after they had paraded him before some cameras and forced him to make confessions that he never intended to make,” he said.
Butshe-Dube said he later requested access to the affidavit but was instead shown a document on a police computer which was not in PDF format.
He said Jele would challenge the purported affidavit, particularly as it had not been availed to his legal team.
Ngwenya also challenged the manner in which Cllr Edwin Ndlovu was arrested.
“He was at his office at York House where forcible entry was made by men who did not identify themselves and were not in police uniform. That is not modern day policing,” he said.
The magistrate said the State would look into the allegations raised by the defence concerning the conduct of the police.
According to the State papers, the matter stems from a 50-year lease awarded by the Bulawayo City Council in 2023 to Mkhuze Global Investments, a company owned by the complainant, for the development of a hotel.
The State alleges that in August 2026, the accused persons connived to extort US$52 000 from the complainant.
The court heard that Jele allegedly contacted the complainant and told him that other businesspeople were interested in the stand.
The State alleges that on August 14, Jele facilitated a meeting between the complainant and the three accused at a local restaurant.
“At the meeting the accused persons informed the complainant that another unidentified businessman was offering them US$52,000 to have Mkhuze Global Investments company lease cancelled and the site made available to him,” the court heard.
The complainant was allegedly told that he would have to match the US$52 000 offer to retain the site.
The State further alleges that the accused persons threatened to use their positions on the Sub-Committee on Allocation of Stands and Premises for Development to recommend cancellation of the lease if the money was not paid.
The complainant subsequently reported the matter to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission in Harare on August 21, leading to a trap being set.
On August 22, the complainant allegedly handed US$5 000 to Jele, who was subsequently arrested while counting the money at the complainant’s house.
Magistrate Matova postponed the matter to August 25 for ruling on the State’s application to place the accused persons on remand.
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