Media Freedom: wa Afrika must be released immediately

I have today asked my colleague Dianne Kohler Barnard MP to urgently request the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police to call before it the National Police Commissioner, Bheki Cele, to explain to the Committee and the public all the facts and details surrounding the botched arrest and unwarranted detention of Sunday Times journalist Mzilikazi wa Afrika.  

News that court prosecutors have dismissed charges against Mr. wa Afrika on the basis that "he has no case to answer" is further evidence that his arrest was intended to intimidate him and other journalists. Mr. wa Afrika has apparently not been released, and police officials will not clarify why he is still being held. With no charges against him, and no case to answer, the DA calls for the immediate release of Mr. wa Afrika. That he was first arrested and taken to a secret location, and is now being detained without cause, is reminiscent of apartheid-era police action and detention without trial.

His arrest, which involved six Hawks vehicles and almost a dozen armed officers, came just a day after Commissioner Cele referred to Mr. wa Afrika as a "shady journalist" on national television, and just three days after Mr. wa Afrika published a story about Commissioner Cele flouting tender procedures.

The Hawks must now answer serious questions as to why Mr. wa Afrika was arrested, why his arrest was such a spectacle, why he was taken to Mpumalanga, and why he continues to be detained without reason. There may well be a case to be made against the police for wrongful arrest, and we encourage Mr. wa Afrika and the Avusa Group to exercise their full rights in that regard.

Statement issued by Democratic Alliance leader, Helen Zille, August 5 2010

Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter