Niehaus gets R3k fine for breaking lockdown regulations

Naidoo said Niehaus was initially warned about the gathering and he was subsequently arrested after ignoring the warning.

Carl Niehaus outside the Constitutional Court in Braamfontein, 25 March 2021. A group of ANC members protested in support of Zuma ahead of the courts desision on whether he was in contempt of a previous ruling, whilst a bigger group of protestors from Action SA and Move One Million counter protested. Picture: Neil McCartney

Carl Niehaus, spokesperson of the disbanded uMkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA), has been released from the Estcourt Correctional Facility, and slapped with a R3,000 fine for contravening lockdown regulations.

Niehaus was arrested while addressing the media outside the Escourt Correctional Facility, where former president Jacob Zuma is jailed.

Niehaus had called the former president’s supporters to gather outside the correctional facility to pay their respects and was busy addressing the media when police interrupted his speech.

The 61-year-old is alleged to have convened a gathering of approximately 100 people outside the Escourt prison at about 4pm this afternoon.

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The Disaster Management Act Regulations clearly outlines gatherings are prohibited, except for funerals where not more than 50 people are allowed to attend, said spokesperson Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo.

Naidoo said Niehaus was initially warned about the gathering and he was subsequently arrested after ignoring the warning.

“This arrest should be a warning to potential law-breakers that contravention of the Lockdown Regulations especially amidst the ever- increasing Covid-19 virus will not be tolerated.”

He is expected to pay the fine before 6 August 2021 or appear in the Escourt Magistrate’s Court.

Niehaus said following his release: “I have been released (around 8pm) from Escourt Police station. I have been charged, and must appear in court on the 8th of August 2021. My utmost gratitude to all my comrades for your support. From the bottom of his heart, ‘thank you!”