Jubilation as Fiyela 4 freed after arrest in Alex
The case was thrown out of the window on March 31 without even seeing the light of day in court.
There was jubilation outside the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court when the Fiyela 4 were released without being charged due to a lack of evidence.
Their lawyer had fought tooth and nail to have the three men and a woman released due to a lack of evidence. The four had been detained at the Alexandra Police Station cells.
#OperationFiyela leader Agnes Malatjie pointed out that their organisation worked closely with a number of political formations. One of the Fiyela 4, Thabiso Makwela, is a leading figure in the leadership of the Patriotic Alliance in the township and an #OperationFiyela activist.
The vice-president of the Patriotic Alliance Kenny Kunene roped in their party lawyers to help secure the release of the Fiyela 4 whose case was thrown out of court on March 31 without seeing the light of day.
Addressing the jubilant comrades of the Fiyela 4 outside court, Kunene said there was no turning back in the struggle to flush out illegal foreigners.
“We will continue with this patriotic programme of calling on illegal foreigners to vacate this country. We must make sure that our votes in 2024 should reflect our anger and frustrations on the ground.”
Malatjie said Alexandra Dudula Movement and #OperationFiyela would not retreat even in the face of harassment by the police. “We will not abandon the noble operation to ‘fiyela’ [sweep] both Alexandra and South Africa clean of all illegal foreigners.”
The Fiyela 4 were arrested on March 30 by the police, apparently with the help of members of the Mozambican community who trade at Pan Africa Square. This was after Makwela had called the police to come and arrest a Zimbabwean national who was allegedly brandishing a firearm at them.
Instead of seeking out the Zimbabwean, police were accused of having asked the Mozambican nationals to help them bundle Makwela and the three other Fiyela members into the van and took them to the Alexandra Police Station where they were detained.
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