EFF leader granted R500 bail after arrest

Ward 16 EFF branch chairperson Izek Mampana was arrested for intimidation and assault at the Glen Marikana Informal Settlement on Dann Road on Friday morning.

The arrest followed when a metro police raid went wrong and resulted in shots being fired in the settlement.

Members of the EMPD K9 Unit arrived at the settlement to confiscate alcohol from illegally operating taverns but the situation turned volatile, resulting in the firing of rubber bullets.

Within minutes of his arrival, Mampana was taken to the ground by metro police officers. It is alleged he threatened officers, saying there was live ammunition in the settlement.

Wilfred Kgasago, EMPD spokesperson, confirmed Mampana was arrested for intimidation and assault.

While in the back of a metro police van, Mampana denied the claims against him and said: “I was only asking the officers why they used live ammunition earlier and told them it was attempted murder, but now they arrested me for intimidation.”

Mampuru Mampuru, the chairperson for the EFF Ekurhuleni region, told Express on Friday afternoon last week: “Mampana is going to be released on bail. He was assaulted, so once he is released, he will go to a doctor.

“The agreement we had with the police was there would not be any raids here until we had the confidence they were fighting crime. To me, it is not an issue of them fighting crime, it is a race issue.

“Secondly, we have realised some of the metro police officers reside here, so apart from them being metro police officers, they are community members of Ward 16 and are part of those who don’t want to see us here.”

Mampuru said they were not against raids.

“There is nothing sinister happening here, so I don’t understand why the metro police came here. We are not against any form of raid, whether they have a search warrant or not. If they are doing it with honesty, then we don’t have a problem but we have a problem when they come here with targets,” he explained.

“They arrested Mampana for asking ‘why are you here, why are you shooting’. They said he provoked them and assaulted police officers, which is not true because Mampana is not a violent person. We have seen they were using live ammunition and the forensic department came here with the police.

“We have a commitment they are not going to come back. That is important because they are provoking us and they think that because we are poor we are criminals, which we are not.

“We are going to take the matter to council. We are going to protect these people.”

Mampuru also made reference to the eviction battle.

“We are going to court on May 21 and we are going to defeat the landowner because this land was left idle for a very long time and our people have been staying here for a very long time. We are not moving until the municipality says they have houses for these people, then we can relocate them.”