News / Africa
South Africa cops charged after stopping Winnie Mandela
13 Jan 2011 at 14:35hrs | Views
Two South African cops who stopped a speeding car that was taking the ex-wife of former president Nelson Mandela to a funeral are facing criminal and disciplinary charges, police said Thursday.
The incident involving Winnie Madikizela-Mandela apparently resulted in a scuffle between her bodyguards and two traffic officers -- one black and one white -- when the car was stopped on December 30, according to media reports.
The white officer was quoted as saying he was being victimised "for doing his job" and because he spoke to the media about the incident involving Mandela's former wife who is a member of parliament.
"They are facing criminal charges of pointing a firearm, intimidation and internal charges... Madikizela-Mandela's driver and bodyguard laid the charges," police spokesman Colonel Neville Malila told AFP.
It was reported that Jannie Odendaal and his colleague stopped the car on a highway north of Johannesburg for speeding at about 150 kilometres (93 miles) per hour).
A bodyguard got out of the car and told Odendaal that Madikizela-Mandela was inside, after which both parties offered different accounts of what happened.
Odendaal claimed he was pushed by the bodyguard and verbally insulted.
However the bodyguard said he tried to explain Madikizela-Mandela was late for a funeral in Pretoria and they accepted they had been speeding, according to the report.
The bodyguard said Odendaal swore at both him and Madikizela-Mandela when she got out of the car.
She then instructed her staff to drive off because the situation was getting ugly, the report said.
Malila said the two officers had been transferred to other stations because they face an internal disciplinary process as well as criminal charges.
Madikizela-Mandela campaigned tirelessly for her husband's release during his 27-year imprisonment during apartheid.
However her image was tarnished by a series of scandals including her links to the kidnap and murder of a young activist, and a 2003 conviction for fraud.
She officially separated from South Africa's first black president in 1992, two years after his release, but she remains an MP and a member of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party's national executive committee.
The incident involving Winnie Madikizela-Mandela apparently resulted in a scuffle between her bodyguards and two traffic officers -- one black and one white -- when the car was stopped on December 30, according to media reports.
The white officer was quoted as saying he was being victimised "for doing his job" and because he spoke to the media about the incident involving Mandela's former wife who is a member of parliament.
"They are facing criminal charges of pointing a firearm, intimidation and internal charges... Madikizela-Mandela's driver and bodyguard laid the charges," police spokesman Colonel Neville Malila told AFP.
It was reported that Jannie Odendaal and his colleague stopped the car on a highway north of Johannesburg for speeding at about 150 kilometres (93 miles) per hour).
A bodyguard got out of the car and told Odendaal that Madikizela-Mandela was inside, after which both parties offered different accounts of what happened.
Odendaal claimed he was pushed by the bodyguard and verbally insulted.
However the bodyguard said he tried to explain Madikizela-Mandela was late for a funeral in Pretoria and they accepted they had been speeding, according to the report.
The bodyguard said Odendaal swore at both him and Madikizela-Mandela when she got out of the car.
She then instructed her staff to drive off because the situation was getting ugly, the report said.
Malila said the two officers had been transferred to other stations because they face an internal disciplinary process as well as criminal charges.
Madikizela-Mandela campaigned tirelessly for her husband's release during his 27-year imprisonment during apartheid.
However her image was tarnished by a series of scandals including her links to the kidnap and murder of a young activist, and a 2003 conviction for fraud.
She officially separated from South Africa's first black president in 1992, two years after his release, but she remains an MP and a member of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party's national executive committee.
Source - AFP
