'Military veterans' remanded after brief appearance

Dimakatso Modipa

The case against 56 people calling themselves military veterans has been postponed to Tuesday.

The group appeared briefly at the Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Centre prison court in Tshwane on Monday morning. They  are accused of holding minister Thandi Modise and deputy Thabang Makwetla and minister in the presidency Mondli Gungubele hostage last week at the Saint George Hotel and Conference Centre in Irene, Centurion.  

Outside the court, about 100 supporters of the accused sang Struggle songs demanding the release of the 56.

Before the alleged hostage the group had a meeting with the ministers at the hotel where they demanded millions in reparation for what they said was their role in fighting against the apartheid regime. However, the meeting ended on a sour note when they reached a stalemate.

The cabinet trio were preparing to leave when their exit was allegedly blocked. They were finally rescued by police. 

Advocate Dali Mpofu represents some of the 56 people.

The group’s spokesperson Obbey Mabena said they went to court to support their colleagues.  

“The government was planning to keep our members for so long in prison and if it was not for the powerful legal team that's representing them for free, the government would have got away with murder. I am hoping that tomorrow [Tuesday] our members will be released because there is no case and the government has no case against our members,” said Mabena.

National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said the postponement was to allow the state time to confirm the accused home addresses and check if any of them had pending criminal cases.

“The state is charging the accused of five counts of kidnapping and [the] state is looking into adding more charges,” said Mahanjana.