Ndaba is charged with kidnapping 259 people
President Jacob Zuma has been drawn into a possible case of treason with the accused claiming he has had correspondence with the head of state.
The Pretoria North Magistrate’s Court heard yesterday that Petrus Ndaba had received correspondence from Zuma in which he was addressed as “general”.
Ndaba is leader of Amabutho Royal Defence Agency Military War Veterans. He was arrested on charges of fraud, assault, crimen injuria and kidnapping involving a group of 259 people he allegedly duped into believing they would be trained to join the national army.
In court yesterday, Ndaba, through his lawyer advocate Jurg Prinsloo, said he had received correspondence from Zuma in response to a letter he had written to the president. Prinsloo said Zuma addressed his client as “general” in the letter.
“This document is one of the best ways to prove he [Ndaba] is not trying to run a parallel state. He merely fights for integration of former soldiers. He corresponded for years at the highest level.
“It’s not like he did it in private. There is a very weak case against the applicant. The court must make it clear that creating sensation to keep a person behind bars will not work,” he said.
Zuma’s spokesman Bongani Ngqulunga was unavailable for comment at the time of going to print.
Prinsloo said Ndaba fought for soldiers to be integrated into the SA National Defence Force (SANDF).
“Amabutho has no intensions to do anything that would destabilise the country,” Prinsloo said.
Ndaba allegedly recruited unemployed youth mostly from KwaZulu-Natal and kept them at a house in Pretoria north. The “recruits” claimed they paid R300 for their registration, R1 800 for training and an additional R200 per month for lodging since last year.
On Tuesday, an official from the SANDF said in a statement that the activities of the organisation resembled that of a parallel army. State prosecutor Ronnie Sibanda said Ndaba could flee to Namibia where he has people who support him if he was granted bail.
“Even though SA has repatriation agreement with Namibia that might take time,” Sibanda said.
The hearing continues.