Johannesburg - Police on Wednesday denied detaining #FeesMustFall leader Mcebo Dlamini despite his claims that he was taken in for questioning.
Early on Wednesday morning Dlamini, who was supposed to speak on an early breakfast show, allegedly told a producer in an SMS that “I am arrested” and was unsure why.
Later in the day Dlamini’s lawyer Thabo Kwinana said he was told by the #FeesMustFall leader that “he (Dlamini) was taken to Alexandra police station by a private security guard during the early hours” of on Wednesday morning.
“The questions were related to his attendance at Julius Malema’s court case in Bloemfontein.
“He was then dropped off near Hillbrow; he is not detained, he is free,” Kwinana said.
Dlamini went down to Bloemfontein and openly backed Malema adding that he supported the comments made by the EFF leader.
“I’m here to support the leader of the EFF because there is no free education without the land, these things go together,” Dlamini said on Monday.
However, in a statement on Wednesday acting National Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Khomotso Phahlane said that Dlamini was not arrested or detained at any police station in Gauteng or in any other province.
He said that it was unfortunate that rumours of Dlamini’s alleged arrest were disseminated via social media and the media before the facts were verified.
“The rumours were apparently fuelled by an SMS, allegedly from Dlamini to a radio show producer, in which it was claimed that he had been arrested.
“This has led to several police members having to dedicate – and waste – their time on establishing beyond doubt that he had not been arrested or detained on any charge relating to the #FeesMustFall student protest or otherwise,” Phahlane said.
He explained there were different variations of the story of Dlamini’s alleged arrest and place of detention but each proved to be incorrect.
“The South African Police Service through a spokesperson placed it on record with several journalists that we had no knowledge of his arrest.
He reiterated that when Dlamini was arrested by police several weeks ago, it was done “after a thorough investigation, and he was processed through the criminal justice system as required by law, after which he was granted bail”.
Phahlane added that they were looking into the circumstances of the claims which had been made during the course of the day.
“It would seem that there has been a deliberate attempt to cast the SAPS in a negative light by an individual or individuals who clearly have an agenda,” he said.
Dlamini is currently out on bail and is facing charges of theft, assault, public violence and malicious damage to property related to the recent #FeesMustFall protests.
His trial has been postponed to June 15 2017.
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The Star