The BLF group will remain behind bars until Tuesday and Madonsela says they never even lodged any complaint before forcing themselves into her head office.
“One settler, one bullet,” were some of the words heard inside room 16 of the Pretoria Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, when members of Black First, Land First (BLF - AKA black lives matter the South African way), led by Andile Mngxitama, made their first appearance in court following Monday’s public protector office invasion.
Some of them, dressed in T-shirts reading “Land or Death”, could be heard metres away from the court room, chanting liberation songs, with Mngxitama leading the vocals.
In the presence of the magistrate, Mngxitama and his crew were again heard shouting “Izwe Lethu-I Afrika”, meaning “Our Land, Africa”.
The group was arrested on Monday and charged with public violence and trespassing after storming into the head office of the public protector in Pretoria.
The accused demanded to speak to Advocate Thuli Madonsela in person, and upon being told that she was busy doing charity work in honour of the late Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg, they forced their way inside the building.
The BLF members claimed that the Office of the Public Protector had not updated them about the R26 billion that was allegedly stolen by whites from the Reserve Bank during apartheid.
The court postponed the matter to next week on Tuesday so that more information on whether the accused had previous criminal records could be sought. The accused will remain in custody.
Meanwhile, the public protector said she was shocked and appalled by the acts of a “bunch of rascals” who invaded her office.
In a statement, Madonsela said the group stormed the office and overpowered security personnel stationed at the entrance, jumping over the front desk to gain access to the rest of the building.
“The public protector believes that such an illegal violent act, which allegedly included intimidation of staff and taking at least four of them as hostages, should be condemned in the strongest possible terms by all those committed to constitutional democracy and the rule of law.
“The public protector wishes to reiterate that the unruly group are not complainants in the matter provided as a basis for their actions but have recently started inquiring about an investigation lodged by Adv. Paul Hoffman of the Institute for Accountability Southern Africa, and Adv. Hoffman, as the complainant, is kept abreast of developments in the investigation at regular intervals,” said Madonsela.
She stressed that the investigation was not and could not look into any apartheid crime of theft, or any other pre-1994 crimes, as that would fall outside the remit of the public protector.
“This is because the public protector was only established in democratic South Africa, in October 1995, and has no powers to investigate what is alleged to have happened prior to its existence.
“Instead, the investigation [is looking] into the propriety or otherwise of the alleged failure by the democratic government between 1998 and 2003 to implement advice from a retired UK intelligence officer regarding the recovery of an alleged R3.2 billion loan allegedly given to Bankorp by the SA Reserve Bank during apartheid.”
Commenting further on Monday’s invasion, Madonsela said her office expected the law to take its course without fear or favour regarding the “criminal invasion”.
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