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Police are investigating KwaZulu-Natal Prime Minister Sihle Zikalala for allegedly violating national closure regulations.
This after Deputy Prosecutor Dianne Kohler Barnard filed a charge against Zikalala for what she considered an “illegal meeting.” The province, however, dismissed the claim.
Police spokesman Brigadier Vish Naidoo said on Friday: “I can confirm that a case of an alleged violation of the National Disaster Management Law against a high-ranking political leader in KZN is under investigation. This after He allegedly addressed a meeting at a hospital just outside Duban’s CBD. No arrests have yet been made. “
Kohler Barnard claimed that Zikalala had held what she believes “to have been an illegal meeting at Clairwood Hospital around 10:30” on Monday, News24 reported at the time.
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In his affidavit, Kohler Barnard further stated that the meeting was a “demonstration: taking essential workers out of their vital duties in wards, ambulances and patrols.”
‘Fake news’
The KZN government replied that “spreading or spreading false news to grab headlines during the blockade is a violation of regulations,” News24 previously reported.
“The KZN provincial government notes with dismay the statement of the district attorney alleging that it had organized a rally and would like to clarify to citizens that the prime minister and members of the provincial command council carried out routine work by the command council and visited Clairwood Hospital, “the province said in a statement Monday.
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He said that Zikalala had delivered thousands of N95 masks and “took the opportunity to appreciate and motivate front-line personnel, who are at the forefront of the trenches in the fight against the spread of Covid-19.”
‘It is not a meeting’
“This was not a meeting as contemplated in the closure regulations, but an ongoing routine work to monitor the province’s readiness to respond to Covid-19.”
Last month, Communications Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams pleaded guilty and paid a fine of R1,000 for violating blocking regulations.
This after she was photographed having lunch with former Mduduzi Deputy Minister Manana. President Cyril Ramaphosa, who “was not moved by the mitigating factors she offered,” placed her on a special leave for two months, one of which would be unpaid, and ordered the police to investigate.
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