Durban - Former Ukhozi FM and SABC 1 presenter Ngizwe Mchunu will face the State in court after he surrendered to the police on Monday.
This comes as Mchunu learnt that he was wanted for allegedly instigating violence during last week’s unrest and looting that rocked KwaZulu-Natal and parts of Gauteng.
The former disc jockey handed himself at the KZN SAPS provincial headquarters in Durban, and was immediately handcuffed and whisked away by a group of plain-clothed police officers.
His arrest also comes as Acting Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, revealed that six alleged instigators of last week's violence and looting had now been arrested.
During a press briefing held on Monday afternoon, Ntshavheni indicated that three of the alleged instigators had already appeared in court, and had been remanded until their bail hearings later this week.
“We understand there may be two appearances tomorrow. The police will update us on that,” she said.
Ntshavheni said one of those arrested had been granted bail. Charges against the alleged instigators included incitement to commit public violence. She said further arrests were expected soon.
Meanwhile Mchunu, who calls himself a homeboy of former president Jacob Zuma as he also hails from Nkandla, has not been shy about his support of the former head of state.
Before Zuma turned himself in to start serving his 15-month sentence on July 8, Mchunu joined scores of people camped outside Nkandla to defend the homestead and the former leader. Prior to that, Mchunu circulated videos via his popular Facebook page and called people to swarm Nkandla to defend Zuma as the state wanted to poison him once he was in jail.
In one interview that IOL carried on July 7, Mchunu voiced his opposition to Zuma’s arrest, saying the “police would have to kill us first before they could take Zuma away”.
When Zuma eventually surrendered, Mchunu then engaged in a tour of KwaZulu-Natal and Johannesburg, staging lone calls for Zuma to be released from jail.
Time and again he used the Zulu term ayikhale, and to some it was viewed as a call to fight back against the state for jailing Zuma at the Estcourt Correction Centre.
When Mchunu handed himself to the police, he was wearing a black Nike tracksuit, long-sleeved Nike T-shirt, South African flag scarf, South African flag face mask and his trademark Zulu headgear known as umqhele.
On Monday, as he was being whisked away in an SUV, he avoided several questions posed by the media about whether he was okay or not.
Among those who accompanied Mchunu was one of his young wives, Lindi Khuzwayo, who was seen in tears and who told the media that “I don’t know what I can say how I feel (about this).”
Last week Ntshavheni maintained that that the SANDF was escorting fuel tankers and standing guard at national key points to protect stocks. She urged the country not to panic about a possible shortage of food in some areas.
Political Bureau