Johannesburg - ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba said he was shocked at the arrest of a South African woman who exposed a hijacked building in Primrose and reported the matter.
Patricia Khoza was arrested on Wednesday for reporting the landlord of a hijacked building to the police.
The Star understands that after the landlord, who is an undocumented foreign national, was arrested, he opened a case of damage to property against Khoza, who was also arrested.
Mashaba said that through the intervention of ActionSA, the case against Khoza was thrown out of court and the rogue land lord remained behind bars.
He said he was disappointed with the manner in which the police dealt with the matter.
"ActionSA is now consulting its lawyers to possibly open a civil case against the police for Patricia’s unlawful arrest, and the party will lay a complaint with the Independent Police Investigating Directorate (Ipid). Patricia was unlawfully detained on Wednesday night after laying a criminal case of intimidation and harassment against an allegedly undocumented foreign national who hijacked a building in Primrose, Ekurhuleni. After ActionSA’s intervention in the matter yesterday, the suspect was apprehended just hours later," Mashaba said.
Mashaba said the restoration of stolen buildings was part of ActionSA's prime goals. He said that while he had nothing against foreign nationals, it was disturbing that someone who was in South Africa illegally would get away with hijacking someone’s property.
"ActionSA believes that the rule of law should be restored to South African communities, including our existing immigration laws. We cannot allow rampant lawlessness to go unaddressed — without the rule of law, economic growth can never be ignited across the country," Mashaba said.
The party will be working together with the City of Ekurhuleni to ensure that other buildings that have been taken over illegally are returned to their rightful owners.
"ActionSA will continue to monitor the case of the arrested suspect to ensure that justice is served. We also want to express our disappointment with the City of Ekurhuleni for failing to act on our case, which we reported yesterday, of the illegal connections to the city’s services on this hijacked property. We, however, stand ready to work with the City of Ekurhuleni, law enforcement agencies and the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) to ensure that the rule of law is restored," he said.
The Star