FORMER eNdumeni municipality mayor Thandeka Nukani, who has been charged with conspiracy to murder, will spend Christmas with her family after being granted bail.

FORMER eNdumeni municipality mayor Thandeka Nukani, who has been charged with conspiracy to murder, will spend Christmas with her family after being granted bail.

Nukani, who is also ANC ward four councilor, and her co-accused, Peter Khumalo, were granted R10 000 bail each by the Utrecht magistrate's court.

Their release disappointed many Dundee residents on Tuesday

They were in custody facing a conspiracy to murder charge.

This followed their arrest on September 28 for attempts to hire a Waterval prison inmate to poison Nukani's nephew, Siyabonga Nukani.

The nephew had turned state witness against her and Khumalo in the 2007 murder case of ANC councilor Grishen Bujram.

Bail was granted despite fierce opposition from prosecutor Ncedile Dunywa on the basis that the suspects had failed to produce "new facts" on their cailed October 10 bail application.

Ncedile pleaded for their continued incarceration to no avail despite pointing out that both had pending cases against them.

Khumalo is due to be tried for the murder of IFP councilor Peter Nxele next month.

But all this fell on deaf ears since the state decided that if they were kept in jail they were likely to lose their jobs, which would not only affect them but their families as well.

The state also said that Nukani was sick and needed proper treatment.

Nukani will appear in the Ladysmith high court in May facing a murder charge relating to the Bujram killing - the case for which Shangase is serving life.