Umkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA) spokesperson Carl Niehaus will return to court later this week for violating Covid-19 regulations.
Niehaus appeared in the Estcourt Magistrate’s Court on Monday. The case was adjourned after Niehaus’s legal representation asked for a postponement.
His appearance is in connection with a contravention of the Disaster Management Act, relating to an incident outside Estcourt Correction Centre in July last year.
Niehaus was arrested by heavily armed police officers stationed outside the Estcourt prison, while he was doing a live TV interview on his #FreeJacobZuma campaign.
He was taken to a police station in Estcourt where he was charged under the Disaster Management Act, for allegedly convening a gathering of approximately 100 people outside the Estcourt prison.
At that time, the Disaster Management Act Regulations clearly outlined that gatherings were prohibited, except for funerals where no more than 50 people were allowed to attend.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson in KwaZulu-Natal, Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said the matter had been set down for trial but Niehaus’s legal representative requested a postponement to obtain further video footage.
She said senior State advocate Yuri Gangai advised the court that the State was ready to proceed with the trial.
The postponement was granted by the court and the matter was postponed until February 17 and 18, 2022, for trial.
In November last year, Niehaus wrote an open letter complaining about the continuous postponements of his case.
He wrote that the NPA “dragged their feet” in presenting evidence.
“Eventually they sent my attorneys something, but too late, and now the case has to be postponed again. This is so familiar, hey? Comrades are being charged, and then there is one postponement after the other,” he wrote at that time.
Political Bureau
