Inquiry held into Thandi Modise’s failure to appear in court for animal cruelty case
The NSPCA was approached by Nel to take this case on a private prosecution after the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) declined to prosecute the case in 2017, claiming that there was insufficient evidence.
The speaker of the House of Parliament, Thandi Modise, failed to appear in the Potchefstroom Regional Court in March where her trial was expected to begin following the gruesome discovery of starving animals on her farm in 2014.
On July 1, 2020, the Potchefstroom Magistrate’s Court held an inquiry to establish whether or not the accused should be held in contempt of court.
Modise appeared in the Potchefstroom Magistrate’s Court on July 1 to explain her failure to appear for her trial set down for March 23 to 26.
The Covid-19 disaster and impending lockdown was the reason for her failure to appear, stating she could not delegate her duties to her deputy as the law did not permit this.
ALSO READ:
Struggling mom’s plea to City Times answered
Advocate Gerrie Nel of AfriForum, acting on behalf of the National Council of SPCAs (NSPCA), argued this was not the first time Modise failed to appear in court, as she had failed to appear in court in June 2019, also due to important work commitments; however, the court accepted Modise’s justification.Although the court accepted this due to the exceptional circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic, the inquiry, which was initiated by the court itself, established that no one is above the law and that the accused needs to act responsibly going forward.
The trial date has been set for December 1 to 3, 2020.
Grace de Lange, farm animal protection unit manager for NSPCA, said the NSPCA hopes there will be no further delays.
It took the prosecuting authority over two years to decline to prosecute this case.
“It is fortunate that the NSPCA was granted the powers to prosecute by the Constitutional Court.
“No person is beyond the law.
“We thank the AfriForum legal team.”
In July 2014, the NSPCA obtained a warrant to inspect the animals on a farm in the North-West province belonging to Thandi Modise, this was after receiving a tip-off that animals on the property had been abandoned.
“Modise’s farm was littered with the carcasses of over 50 pigs and other dead animals, such as geese, ducks, sheep and goats.
“Over 100 pigs, sheep, chickens and goats were found without food and water and the animals were found dead and dying.
“The animals were so desperately hungry, they were feeding off carcasses, cannibalising and eating newborn young.
“It was one of the cruelest cases of animal abuse the NSPCA had come across.
“These animals were denied basic minimum care and suffered neglect and starvation,” said de Lange.
