Johannesburg – AfriForum has vowed to bring to book the police officers who arrested one of its members for violating curfew regulations when he went out to buy milk formula for his new-born baby.
Naas le Roux was arrested around 1am in Centurion on January 7 for contravention of the Disaster Management Act and its regulations, which include a night curfew between 9pm and 4am.
AfriForum indicated it would lay a service complaint against the two officers who were involved in the stand-off with and subsequent arrest of Le Roux.
AfriForum chief executive Kallie Kriel said the organisation would also back Le Roux in his lawsuit against the SA Police Service for wrongful arrest.
“This was clearly an emergency and the SAPS officers’ lack of insight and empathy to enforce the regulations in a rational manner is truly shocking. We cannot allow the SAPS to treat law-abiding citizens like criminals,” Kriel said.
Kriel said Le Roux’s wife, Natasha, had been forced to walk 250m to the scene with the baby where she took her husband’s car and the baby formula.
Kriel said AfriForum’s private prosecution unit, headed by advocate Gerrie Nel, had managed to convince the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) not to prosecute Le Roux for violating the curfew. In a video footage taken by Le Roux, he can be seen having exchanges with one of the cops who eventually arrested him.
While it was clear that the footage was taken after exchanges, the police officer can be heard promising to teach Le Roux a lesson.
Nel accused the police of maliciously accusing Le Roux of not wearing a mask and of using this as another reason for the arrest.
“The purpose of the regulations is not, as Police Minister Bheki Cele proudly announced, to burden 7 000 people with criminal records because they are not wearing masks, but to lighten the burden on hospitals by stopping the spread of the virus,” Nel said.
According to AfriForum, its legal team had the receipts of the purchased formula which was bought at Clicks pharmacy at the Unitas Hospital.
Political Bureau