Pretoria – Deputy speaker in the Gauteng legislature Nomvuyo Mhlakaza-Manamela is due to appear before the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on charges of assault and crimen injuria today.
The wife of Deputy Minister of Higher Education Buti Manamela is accused of attacking Sergeant Lizzy Mojapelo who was pregnant at the time.
Mojapelo is represented by AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit.
“Vuyo Mhlakaza-Manamela, Gauteng legislature deputy speaker, will appear in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on charges of assault and crimen injuria, on Thursday, August 18, 2022. The politician is accused of attacking police protection and security services officer Sergeant Lizzy Mojapelo,” said Barry Bateman, spokesperson for the AfriForum unit.
Vuyo Mhlakaza-Manamela, Deputy Speaker of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature, must explain herself to a court for allegedly assaulting a police officer. pic.twitter.com/0KhfyTP21t
He said Mojapelo approached the unit after the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) chose not to pursue the case last year.
“The matter was withdrawn last year after senior prosecutors allegedly told Mojapelo that the matter would be difficult to prosecute because the suspect is a very high-profile person. The unit made representations to the NPA on behalf of Mojapelo, and in June the Gauteng Director of Public Prosecutions informed the unit that it had reviewed the earlier decision and will re-enroll the case against Mhlakaza-Manamela,” said Bateman.
The assault allegedly took place in February 2020 at the home of Mhlakaza-Manamela and her husband.
“Mojapelo alleges that the suspect, in a drunken fit of rage, severely assaulted her. She further states that her police superiors did not want to help her open a case, but instead did everything their power to frustrate those efforts,” said Bateman.
“A medical examination confirmed that Mojapelo sustained multiple injuries, and confirmed she was 11 weeks pregnant at the time. She suffered vaginal bleeding and had to receive fertility treatment to ensure her pregnancy was not terminated.”
AfriForum described Mojapelo as a “diligent and dutiful police officer”.
She has documented details of the alleged assault “at every step of the process – from the occurrence book entry at the scene of the crime to compiling notes of her interactions with prosecutors and investigators”.
In June, making a U-turn on the decision not to prosecute Mhlakaza-Manamela, the NPA said, in written communication to AfriForum, that the senior public prosecutor who withdrew the matter had been “reprimanded”.
IOL