The Johannesburg magistrate’s court has found Gauteng legislature deputy speaker Nomvuyo Mhlakaza-Manamela not guilty of assault charges brought against her by VIP officer Lizzy Mojapelo.
Mhlakaza-Manamela appeared in court for judgment on Monday. She faced charges of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and crimen injuria.
Mhlakaza-Manamela, the wife of Higher Education Deputy Minister Buti Manamela, was accused of attacking Mojapelo in February 2020.
Pregnant at the time of assault
Mojapelo was pregnant at the time of the altercation, which is said to have taken place at Mhlakaza-Manamela’s Johannesburg home.
It was alleged that Mhlakaza-Manamela dared the pregnant female VIP protection officer she beat up to take out her gun and shoot her.
Mhlakaza-Manamela was accused of punching her and repeatedly calling her a “rubbish” who wanted to control her in her house.
This was after she took offence that Mojapelo had taken a long time to open the guardhouse.
It was further alleged that the deputy speaker also accused her husband of “standing there” and doing nothing when this “rubbish” was controlling her in her house.
Complainant contradicted herself
Handing down the judgment, the magistrate found discrepancies in the medical report and the doctor’s testimony, stating that there was no evidence of assault on the complainant.
Additionally, the complainant contradicted herself in her testimony.
With six years of experience in the South African Police Service, she omitted details in her statement, attributing it to trauma, the magistrate said.
The court found that Mojapelo was not honest in some instances during her testimony.
However, both the accused and her husband were deemed credible witnesses, and the magistrate stated that their versions were probable with no reason to dispute them.
Reacting to the judgment outside court, Mojapelo stated that she would not appeal, viewing the situation not as a personal battle but as a spiritual one.
She told Sunday World that she hopes Mhlakaza-Manamela has learned a lesson despite being acquitted and trusts that she will not repeat the alleged offence.
“Commanders have always been protecting her; I’m not the first lady to be assaulted by her,” Mojapelo said.
“Other officials are also victims but are scared of losing their jobs. I am not afraid and won’t allow people to bully me.”
Justice was served
AfriForum’s Barry Bateman expressed disappointment with the judgment.
“Obviously, we are disappointed, but justice has been done. The matter has been heard, which is something we said was supposed to happen since the very beginning,” Bateman said.
“We maintained, and we still do, that the matter wasn’t enrolled because of selective prosecution because of the status of the accused in this particular matter, but through our [AfriForum] intervention, it was enrolled, and we are satisfied that justice was done in that all the parties had an opportunity to present their case.”
“Why we say justice was served is that the accused had applied for a 174 discharge, and at that point the court found that there was indeed a case for the accused to answer to.
“So we are satisfied that there was indeed a case against the accused; it’s just unfortunate that the court found that, with all the evidence, that wasn’t enough to convict the accused.”
