21 YEAR OLD BLACK WOMAN JAILED FOR OVER FOUR YEARS FOR GBH, AFTER FAMILY SAY SHE WAS DEFENDING HERSELF AGAINST A RACIALLY MOTIVATED ASSAULT BY A GROUP OF PEOPLE OLDER THAN HER.
PHOTOGRAPHS ON THE CAMPAIGN’S WEBSITE SHOW SIYANDA BADLY BRUISED FOLLOWING THE INCIDENT, WHICH TOOK PLACE ON A CAMPING TRIP IN BRECON LAST MAY.
“SHE HAS BEEN FAILED BY THE SYSTEM BECAUSE OF THE COLOUR OF HER SKIN,” SAYS MOTHER, AS BLACK LIVES MATTER PROTESTS HIGHLIGHT STATE RACISM ACROSS THE GLOBE.
By Mark S Redfern. Siyanda Mngaza, 21. Photo taken from the change.org petition launched to free her.
The family and supporters of Siyanda Mngaza – the 21 year old black woman who was imprisoned in March after defending herself from physical attack- have launched a campaign to free her.
Siyanda was sentenced to four years and six months with gross bodily harm (GBH) in an incident that took place in Brecon on a May bank holiday weekend last year, which solicitors for the family say was in self-defence in response to a racially motivated physical assault.
“On 25 May 2019, what started as a joyous bank holiday for Siyanda ended as a nightmare and changed her life forever,”, a statement reads on a website setup to free the young woman. “Without any provocation, Siyanda was racially abused and physically assaulted by adults much older than her,”
The family say they expected the police to investigate the incident thoroughly but instead experienced “a litany of failures.”
Siyanda, who is also disabled, was later arrested and charged with GBH, and convicted and sentenced to four and half years on 13 March 2020.
Suresh Grover, from anti-racism campaign The Monitoring Group, said: “Siyanda is a victim of racism and a terrible miscarriage of Justice. A young, black and talented woman has had her future snatched from her in the prime of her life”
“What would you feel if your young loved one was racially abused and beaten by a group of people? Then instead of being protected by the justice system, was sentenced to prison for protecting herself” Cammilla Mngaza, the mother of Siyanda, said:
“She has been failed by the system because of the colour of her skin. I need your help to get justice for Siyanda”
Her solicitors have lodged an appeal that is likely to be heard at the end of the year, the grounds of appeal being based on a number of critical failures by the police and on the fact that the jury failed to understand the directions of the trial Judge.
South Wales Police not only failed to investigate the assault on Siyanda that was racially motivated,a press release launching the campaign said, but also failed to produce crucial forensic evidence supporting Siyanda’s testimony. They say the jury failed to understand the direction of the judge in court, and did not understand the charges Siyanda faced, even though she proved in court she was attacked.
“Her plight needs to be heard in every corner of this country so that she can taste freedom again,” said a spokesperson.
Black & Asian people are more likely to be victims of hate crimes, racially motivated hate crimes accounting for around three-quarters of all hate crimes in the UK.
The campaign has launched a petition and a website with more information.
The fight to free Siyanda comes as the world turns its focus to the wave of militant, anti-racist protests rocking America in response to the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis cop. The Black Lives Matter movement against endemic racism within the police and state is facing down President Trump and generating global solidarity. On the weekend, hundreds protested in Cardiff for Floyd, and similar events have now been called in Caerphilly and Wrexham.
Earlier this year, South Wales Police were accused of institutional racism by the mother of Christopher Kapessa, the black teenager who drowned in the River Cynon last July after being out with other teens from the area. Even though the CPS ruled that Christopher – who could not swim – had fallen into the river as a result of a deliberate push on the back, they chose not to press any charges.
