Picture File: Carl Niehaus (third from left) and his fellow members of the disbanded MKMVA. Picture: Carl Niehaus/Twitter
Carl Niehaus, the former spokesperson of the disbanded uMkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA), claims he was told to leave the MK Veterans’ unity conference in East London on the basis of an “illegally forced Covid-19 test”.
And he believes his exclusion from the conference was planned in advance.
Niehaus on Friday was sent home and denied accreditation to the three-day congress at the East London International Convention Centre, after he reportedly tested positive for Covid at a testing booth.
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The Department of Military Veterans confirmed to News24 that Niehaus and an unnamed female military veteran were asked to go home after receiving their results.
Niehaus has slammed the organisers of the event for excluding him from the much-anticipated conference that is meant to unite former combatants from both the MKMVA and Umkhonto we Sizwe National Council (MKNC) under one umbrella.
Taking to Twitter, Niehaus said his exclusion was an “utter disgrace” and suggested the conference was poorly organised.
He claimed there was a plot to remove him from the gathering, saying the testing booth at the registration venue was run by white males, who supposedly triggered memories of apartheid for him.
“This was all planned in advance: The testing centre at the registration venue was all run by white males. It was like walking into an apartheid-era trap! An utter disgrace.
“The organisational chaos of this conference is a disgrace. In fact, the #DMV [Department of Military Veterans] is an utter disgrace!” he tweeted.
Niehaus also came for Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula after he tweeted a video from the East London International Convention Centre.
Mbalula, who is often at loggerheads with Niehaus on Twitter, seemed to be happy that his political foe was not present at the conference.
He tweeted: “All-Inclusive-Conference of MK Veterans no Carl Niehaus inside.”
Niehaus said Mbalula was “very gifted in being an idiot” and called him a “gutter politician of note”.
“He is very gifted in being and idiot, and gutter politician of note. Who celebrates that someone has tested COV-19 positive? The man is sick in his head, with no moral compass [SIC],” he tweeted.
Compiled by Thapelo Lekabe
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