UPDATE: Police minister urges Malema to report alleged police harassment
SANDTON - Economic Freedom Front (EFF) party-leader, Julius Malema took to Twitter on 3 April to talk about his experience of alleged police harassment on the Grayston Drive off-ramp.
4 April; 2pm
Police Minister, Nathi Nhleko has urged EFF leader, Julius Malema to report the alleged police harassment he encountered, on the Grayston off-ramp in Sandton on 3 April, to the relevant authorities.
This according to SABC News.
Malema was reportedly on his way from a party meeting in Soweto when the alleged incident took place.
Nhleko’s spokesperson Musa Zondi said to the SABC, “Without a report it is impossible to be able to investigate and get to the bottom of this. The other alternative for them is to report it to Ipid which handles issues of police actions that are not within the law.”
The EFF has released an official statement on the incident which accuses the South African government of bullying tactics.
4 April; 8am
Malema tweeted, “Just survived police harassment at Grayston off-ramp, 12 policemen pointed me (sic) with rifles and forced me out of the car…”
Just survived police harassment at Grayston off-ramp,12 police men pointed me with rifles and forced me out of the car…
— Julius Sello Malema (@Julius_S_Malema) April 3, 2016
Shortly after Malema’s tweet, the EFF released an official statement on the alleged incident.
Police just harassed our CIC @Julius_S_Malema at the Grayston Drive Offramp. 10 cars all out pointing guns at him pic.twitter.com/wrTYxaVeIt
— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) April 3, 2016
The EFF’s official statement alleged that Malema was stopped by a white unmarked van.
The statement further alleged that immediately after Malema was stopped he was surrounded by about 10 police vehicles. The police officers are said to have pointed rifles at Malema’s vehicle. However when he alighted from his vehicle, the police officers allegedly claimed they had made a mistake.
The official EFF Twitter account later tweeted:
The regime, with its venomous security forces, must know that the spirit of the people is awaken for good. Not even death will silence it!
— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) April 3, 2016
As reported by News24, Gauteng police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said he was not aware of the incident. It is also not clear whether the case was officially reported to the police.
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