South Africa News

Warrant of arrest issued for National Assembly Speaker Thandi Modise

Thandi Modise is being sought by law enforcement after the Potchefstroom Regional High Court issued a warrant of arrest for her on Friday. As reported by SABC News, the warrant was issued after the National Assembly Speaker failed to make it to her court appearance that was scheduled for Friday morning.

Why is Thandi Modise in trouble with the law?
The matter in question is related to animal cruelty charges that were laid against Modise, by AfriForum, in 2018.

The lobby group was approached by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA) for assistance after it was discovered, in 2014, that Modise’s animal farm, in North West, had been left abandoned for weeks.
What the investigators from AfriForum’s Civil Rights Organisation found when they arrived at the farm was a gruesome scene, where dozens of animals were dead, some barely clinging to life.

The NSPCA later revealed that the animals were in such a dire state, they were forced to put down more than 160 of them. The last time Modise was seen in public was on Thursday, at the State of the Nation address (SONA 2019), in Cape Town.

It may be that the Speaker was unable to make the flight to Potchefstroom to appear before the court on the matter but formality triumphs over any excuse.

Thandi Modise

Therefore, according to Elias Mangwele, AfriForum’s Senior Special Investigator, Modise, through her defence attorney, has been served a warrant of arrest.

Mangwele revealed that the courts have postponed the matter until Monday, 22 July.
There is no way in [the] act whereby an accused person can stay away from court attendance, but we say we will postpone the matter further for the 22nd, as we have agreed with the defence lawyer. The warrant of arrest has been issued in court today (Friday) and it is being held until the 22 July so that she can appear in court on that day,” he revealed.

You might also like…Case against Julius Malema postponed to November

The case against EFF leader Julius Malema has been postponed to 8 November. Malema, who was charged for contravening the Riotous Assemblies Act of 1956, made a brief appearance in the Bloemfontein Magistrates Court on Friday.

Malema

He was charged for encouraging EFF members to occupy land at the party elective conference in 2014 in Bloemfontein…Read more here

Source: thesouthafrican