An urgent application for deferral for the court appearance of Thandi Modise, Speaker of the National Assembly, was removed from the North Gauteng High Court roll on March 30 2020, by her legal team. Magistrate Ben Mtebele consented that Modise must appear in the Potchefstroom Regional Court on 8 May 2020, to account for not appearing in court and to determine a trial date.
Modise failed to appear on 24 March on charges of animal abuse against her. Modise’s legal representatives initially applied for postponement as a result of the lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19.
The warrant for her arrest remains in force, however, but was postponed to 8 May 2020. The warrant was issued on 24 March 2020 pending her appearance in court on 31 March 2020.
“AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit very reluctantly declined to oppose the application until a date after the lockdown period. In light of the pandemic, we agreed that Modise should appear in court on 8 May 2020. We continuously argued that the power to postpone rests not with the prosecutor, but with the presiding officer. The case has a history of non-appearance by the accused, and we are now focusing on bringing the case to trial,” says Andrew Leask, Head Investigator at AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit.
AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit announced last year that it was going to prosecute Modise on behalf of the National Council of Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA).
Read the original article in Afrikaans on AfriForum
South Africa Today – South Africa News
Thandi Modise’s farm: ‘One of the cruellest cases of animal abuse ever seen’
Animal cruelty: Private prosecution of Thandi Modise to commence
