Lungani Zungu
Jacob Zuma’s loyal supporter Carl Niehaus has been arrested on live TV outside Estcourt correctional services, where Zuma is beginning his 15-month jail term.
In a dramatic turn of events on Thursday, Niehaus was addressing the media when he was arrested by four police officers just before 4 pm.
Without naming him, police spokesperson Vish Naidoo said Niehaus would be charged for breaking the lockdown regulations after he organised the gathering of a crowd of more than 50 people.
Naidoo said Niehaus would also be charged for organising the crowd that gathered outside Zuma’s Nkandla home on Sunday.
“The person that we arrested today is one of the people that had planned more than one gathering where many people had attended, breaking the lockdown regulation.”
Naidoo said that no gatherings are permitted under lockdown Level four, with the exception of funerals, which are limited to a maximum of 50 people.
He said those who flouted lockdown regulations would face the full wrath of the law.
He also said Niehaus would be kept in police custody until he applied for bail.
Niehaus was the spokesperson of the disbanded Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA).
Niehaus first made a speech to a handful of Zuma supporters who had gathered outside the prison before he started addressing the media.
When asked for comment, Niehaus told Scrolla.Africa that his lawyers were handling the matter and declined to comment further.
His arrest was yet another devastating blow to the so-called Radical Economic Transformation faction which is aligned to Zuma.
