Cape Town – No incidents of unrest or looting have been reported in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal in the past 24 hours.
This was confirmed on Tuesday by acting Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, who said around 200 suspects had appeared in Gauteng courts this week.
“Three key suspects facing charges of incitement to commit public violence have appeared in various courts and were remanded in custody for bail applications.
’’One suspect handed himself over in Durban yesterday after a warrant of arrest had been issued against him. He will be appearing in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court in Johannesburg tomorrow.”
Ntshavheni added: “Most shopping malls, which were closed due to violence and looting, including the iconic Maponya Mall in Soweto, have reopened their doors for communities to start buying the necessities they require.
“Members of the SANDF the SAPS are patrolling various other shopping malls to ensure they continue with trade safely.”
Meanwhile, Ukhozi FM presenter Ngizwe Mchunu, who had handed himself over to the KwaZulu-Natal police on Monday, today requested his Facebook followers to donate funds to help cover his legal costs.
He is expected to make his first appearance in the Randburg Magistrate's Court on Wednesday after reportedly being charged under the Riotous Assemblies Act of 1956.
In a series of videos, he gave President Cyril Ramaphosa three days to release ex-president Jacob Zuma from prison or face the possibility of mayhem breaking out in in the country.
The government previously said it believed 12 people masterminded the looting and destruction of property that took place in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. Sibusiso Mavuso, who appeared in a Westonaria court, and Patriotic Alliance member Bruce Nimmerhoudt, a mayoral candidate on the West Rand, have appeared in court.
Another alleged instigator, a 21-year-old woman, was expected to appear in the Nigel Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday but her case did not appear on the court roll. She had been arrested in Duduza, Ekurhuleni.
Infighting continues in Ramaphosa’s cabinet, with Minister of State Security Ayanda Dlodlo and Minister of Police Bheki Cele at loggerheads over whether the police were provided with intelligence reports about the possibility of civil unrest following Zuma’s jailing.
Cele rejected Dlodlo's claims that the State Security Agency (SSA) gave intelligence reports on the unrest to the police when he addressed a meeting of the Joint Standing Committee on Defence and the Portfolio Committee on Police on Tuesday. He said he did not sign for any intelligence report from the SSA.
"It is you, the minister, who would have given the product to me. The minister of SSA could not give the product direct to the other DG. It would have come to me, and I would have given it to the national commissioner. I want to repeat here that I have never seen that product," he said.
Dlodlo told a news website intelligence products were always shared with relevant structures. ’’Intelligence is shared with the police and other structures all the time.’’
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