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The Estcourt Magistrate’s court has postponed suspended ANC member Carl Niehaus’ contravention of the Disaster Management Act case to February 2022, after he made a brief appearance on Monday.
He was arrested after he allegedly violated lockdown rules outside the Estcourt prison after the incarceration of former president Jacob Zuma in July.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson (NPA) Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said that the case had been postponed to 14 – 18 February 2022 for trial.
Niehaus was speaking to the media live on television when he was arrested outside the Estcourt prison for allegedly violating Level 4 lockdown regulations by convening a gathering of approximately 100 people on 8 July.
A video clip Niehaus shared on social media shows him saying that on 14 February 2022, he will be back at the court to face the “trumped up” allegations.
He said that the accusations were brought against him because of factional divisions within the ANC.
“You will recall that I was arrested in front of the Estcourt prison by police who were instructed by a very senior ANC politician and government official to arrest me because he didn’t like what he heard in the live interview that I was giving on the SABC television,” Niehaus said.
Me speaking outside the Estcourt Magistrate Court, after the trumped up COVID-19 case against has been postponed once again. The farcical saga continues ?? pic.twitter.com/m2r0esRIHy
— Carl Niehaus (@niehaus_carl) November 22, 2021
“These people who illegally imprisoned [former] President Jacob Zuma, who’ve now brought the trumped up charges against comrade Ace Magashule do not like the truth.”
