'Manana's supporters swore at us'

Gender violence in the Spotlight

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'Manana's supporters swore at us'

8 November 2017 1:13 PM

Former Higher Education Deputy Minister Mduduzi Manana is being sentenced in the Randburg Magistrates Court on Wednesday for assaulting a woman at the Cubana Nightclub in Fourways.

Manana was charged after being captured on video assaulting the woman and later resigned and pleaded guilty to the charges.

Andile Gaelesiwe, an activist from the Not In My Name Foundation, was at the court appearance. She tells the Midday Report, stand-in host, Ray White that Manana walked into the courtroom with his student supporters who were clad in t-shirts with his face on them.

Everything changed when his supporters swore at us. The last time we were in court, they even broke a window of my car. On Tuesday, it got so bad when one of the kids got into a scuffle with the security guards.
— Andile Gaelesiwe, Activist, Not In My Name Foundation

Also read: Sentencing in Mduduzi Manana assault case postponed

Gaelesiwe says the court appearances have been a nightmare as Manana 'displayed his power and ego'. She goes on to say this shows that Manana has no remorse for his actions.

She was told by Manana's supporters that he had booked buses for his supporters, with some even being brought in from as far as the Eastern Cape.

He's got a set of student supporters and the other set a group of men, two of which were arrested at a previous court appearance.
— Andile Gaelesiwe, Activist, Not In My Name Foundation

Gaelesiwe says it has come to the court's attention that Manana has two prior convictions of theft.

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Written by: Mmakgomo Tshetlo