Top ANC members supporting party secretary-general Ace Magashule have been denied entry to the Bloemfontein magistrate’s court, where he’s making a second appearance on corruption charges, owing to Covid-19 safety measures.
This has provoked an angry response from ANC national executive committee (NEC) member Dakota Lekgoete, who has described the coronavirus safety measures as “dictatorship in the name of Covid-19″, arguing that a bigger courtroom should have been used to accommodate him and other prominent Magashule supporters.
Lekgoete, along with other ANC heavyweights such as NEC member Bathabile Dlamini and ANC Ekurhuleni chairperson Mzwandile Masina, were among a host of high-profile Magashule supporters, many of whom were not allowed to enter the court owing to Covid-19 safety measures.
Magashule and 14 others appeared inside the Bloemfontein magistrate’s court over corruption charges related to irregularities in the awarding of a R255m asbestos tender during Magashule’s time as Free State premier.
Lekgoete said Covid-19 regulations were now a form of dictatorship.
“This is a dictatorship in the name of Covid-19,” said Lekgoete. “Why did they not choose a bigger court? I mean there are 15 accused and each brought a family member and then there are lawyers.”
Source: www.timeslive.co.za
