Disabled Mpumalanga woman in court for allegedly assaulting DSD employee who mocked her

A disabled Mpumalanga woman has been summoned to court for allegedly assaulting a social development employee who “repeatedly mocked her” because of her condition.

It is alleged that the employee, whose name is known to The Citizen, has been harassing Thandi Mdluli by making her a laughing stock and “calling her Oscar Pistorius” because she had a splint attached to her left leg as a result of a car accident that happened in 2016.

Pistorius is a former international Paralympic champion, whose legs were amputated when he was 11 years old and he has prosthetic legs.

Comparing photos to those of Pistorius

The fight between Mdluli and the employee, who is stationed at the department’s office in Oakley, Bushbuckridge, dates back to December last year when the employee reportedly insulted Mdluli on several occasions and shared her pictures and Pistorius’ images on her WhatsApp status, captioning them with offensive messages.

The employee also stated that the two were similar due to their disability.

Mdluli alleged that every time she met the woman during soccer matches, she mocked her and made fun of her.

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The assault case emanates from a 30 January confrontation in which Mdluli allegedly confronted her at the Sassa offices in Oakley Bushbuckridge.

In an interview yesterday, Mdluli said she was shocked when she received the summons ordering her to appear in court for a case of assault.

“I am so hurt because I am the victim here and she has now opened a case against me. A few days ago I received the summons informing me that I must appear in court next month or pay a R500 fine before the court date.

“They want me to plead guilty which is something I will never do because it will affect my future as an aspirant nurse. After all, I am a trained nurse even though I am currently unemployed.

“Another thing puzzling me is the fact that I was summonsed to court while I reported the mockery to her seniors, but nothing was done to discipline her. When I think about this issue I can’t sleep at night because this person has humiliated me and now she has taken me to court for something I did not do.

“What happened is that as a Sassa beneficiary, I went to the office to fix something, but when I saw her I confronted her and asked why she was posting offensive messages about me on her WhatsApp and she started swearing at me and pushed me around. I pushed back until we were separated by observers,” said Mdluli.

The summons

The Citizen has seen the summons issued by the clerk of the court ordering her to appear in the local magistrate’s court, or at the nearest police station, on 4 September.

“You are hereby summoned to appear in person before the above-mentioned court at 8am on the above-mentioned date and place in connection with the charge(s) of which the particulars are mentioned hereunder and to remain in attendance or to pay an admission of guilt fine of R500,” the summons read.

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SA Human Rights Commission Mpumalanga manager Eric Mokonyama confirmed that the commission is investigating a rights violation case against Mthethwa, while social development provincial spokesperson Centie Ngubane previously condemned the incident, saying the matter was being investigated.

He, however, did not respond to questions sent to him over the weekend. Insiders said the employee had not been disciplined yet and nothing had been heard relating to her accusation.

The employee was contacted for comment but did not respond to questions sent to her via WhatsApp.