Hostage drama accused in court
Old comrades will be pitted against each other when MK vets take stand over ‘siege’
IT will be more like former comrades pitted against each other when more than 50 military veterans, who were arrested for allegedly holding a defence minister and her deputy hostage last week, make their first court appearance this morning.
The 56, including seven women, are likely to face charges of at least three counts of kidnapping after the Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele, Defence Minister Thandi Modise and her deputy Thabang Makwetla were held against their will at the St George Hotel and Conference Centre in Irene, Pretoria, on Thursday night.
Police used stun grenades to defuse the situation. The ministers said they had a meeting with military veterans but could barely start as the veterans demanded President Cyril Ramaphosa and Deputy President David Mabuza address their needs.
When the trio opted to leave, the veterans allegedly blocked their exit. It was the first time in the history of South Africa that a minister was held hostage.
Meanwhile, disbanded Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association spokesperson Carl Niehaus and some aggrieved ANC staff members will be laying an official complaint against the ANC’s national office bearers with the public protector this morning over the recurring non-payment of salaries.
In a statement yesterday, Niehaus said it was the aggrieved ANC staff who previously laid criminal charges of theft, fraud, corruption, and various statutory crimes against the national office bearers (NOBs) of the ANC. “This complaint concerns the failure of government agencies that are in terms of legislation responsible for regulating the Provident Fund, PAYE, etc, to act against the ANC.
“It is of serious concern that these agencies have not taken up the matter of the ANC having, for an extended period of time, made deductions from employees’ salaries, but not having paid over the deducted monies to the relevant government institutions,” Niehaus said.
He is expected to join the aggrieved ANC members at the Office of the Public Protector in Pretoria today.
He said that once the official complaint was filed, the staff would make their complaint document available to the media and address the media outside Public Protector House.
The group would also provide an update on the progress in the criminal case against the ANC, which Niehaus said was being closely monitored by the Hawks.
Weighing in on the arrest of the 56 veterans, he said it was “incorrect and unnecessarily alarmist” to allege a hostage situation unfolded at Irene.
“At no stage was there any violence or threat to the lives of the two ministers and deputy minister. It was a total over-reaction for special forces to have been sent in, which used excessive force to resolve a non-existent hostage and non-violent situation.”
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