Cape Town - The trial of Speaker of Parliament Thandi Modise is expected to start at the Potchefstroom Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday where she will face six charges of animal cruelty.
The trial is expected to run for three days.
Modise joins a list of senior ANC members including secretary-general Ace Magashule and Thomas Bongo who appeared in court on various charges in recent weeks.
AfriForum is prosecuting Modise privately after the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) declined to prosecute even though the lobby group claims it had presented a strong case against the Speaker.
Former NPA prosecutor Gerrie Nel will lead the prosecution against Modise as the head of the AfriForum private prosecution unit.
The case dates back to 2014 when the National Council of SPCAs (NSPCA) obtained a warrant to inspect animals on Modise’s R4.8 million farm in the North West province after receiving a tip-off that animals on the property had been abandoned for two months.
Modise bought the farm in Modderfontein in the district of Tlokwe with a loan from the Land Bank.
After visiting the farm, NSPCA inspector Andries Venter said it was the worst case of farm animal cruelty he had seen in 20 years.
The NSPCA approached AfriForum for assistance after it claimed that it found 79 animals had died, 58 of them pigs. The NSPCA said it had managed to save about 30 sheep and goats, 16 chickens and nine geese.
The remaining 85 pigs were cannibalising the rotten carcasses of other pigs.
The NSPCA was forced to put down more than 224 animals.
Modise denied any wrongdoing and blamed her former farm manager for the poor condition of the animals.
She said her farm manager had left to tend to an emergency family matter.
The only worker on the farm at the time, Tebogo Moekaedi and his family said he had been there for two months without pay and with nothing to feed the animals.
Independent Media can reveal that Moekaedi is going to take the stand against Modise this week as a key witness.
AfriForum chief executive
Kallie Kriel had previously said the NPA’s decision not to prosecute Modise was a serious breach of the principle of equality before the law.
“Modise cannot be treated differently from other citizens by the NPA simply because she occupies an important political position.
Weekend Argus