ActionSA Ekurhuleni mayoral candidate Xolani Khumalo has been granted R2 000 bail following a brief appearance at the Palmridge Magistrates’ Court on Monday.
Khumalo is facing charges of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and pointing a firearm.
The charges stem from an incident in 18 December when he and his crew was raiding a home suspected of drugs.
After which Khumalo handed himself over at the Katlehong Police Station. He was accompanied by ActionSA leadership, including Michael Beaumont and Funzi Ngobeni.
Hundreds of supporters gathered outside the police station, singing struggle songs and chanting his name. He was later transferred to the Palmridge Magistrates’ Court, where he made his first appearance.
Newsnote was informed the complainant medical report was not ready at the time of the court appearance.
Khumalo rose to prominence through his television programme Sizok’thola, which focuses on exposing alleged drug syndicates and confronting suspected drug dealers.
But opposition political parties who have been working with Khumalo in Ekurhuleni were not happy when he joined ActionSA and they have been trying to pin criminal cases against him as he has faced previous cases which have since been dropped.
ActionSA chairperson Michael Beaumont said Khumalo’s arrest reflects deeper problems within South Africa’s justice system.
“Xolani Khumalo is being arrested because he refuses to surrender the country he loves to criminals,” Beaumont said. “He is paying the price for doing the work that SAPS and the judiciary either can’t or won’t do. Instead of keeping criminals off the streets, they arrest those who expose criminality.”
Supporter Lwazi Thabethe from Katlehong said Khumalo was being unfairly targeted for confronting drug networks.
“There will always be people who want to see you fail when you step on the territories of drug cartels,” she said. “Drugs are a big problem in our township. If government cared, it would work with communities to remove them from our streets.”
Thabethe also shared a personal account of losing her brother to drug addiction, describing the experience as painful and heartbreaking.
Khumalo is expected to return to court on 18 February on the assault charges.
