Johannesburg – Drama unfolded at the St George’s Hotel in Irene, Pretoria after two cabinet ministers, Thandi Modise and Mondli Gungubele alongside deputy minister, Thabang Makwetla had to be freed by special forces after being held hostage on Thursday night by military veterans.
Modise who is the minister of Defense was held hostage with her deputy, Makwetla and the Minister in the Presidency, Gungubele.
The hostage situation resulted in 56 suspects being arrested for being involved in what had happened at the hotel.
All the doors had been blocked from inside locked with chairs to prevent the senior government officials from leaving.
Police spokesperson, Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo said that the hostage situation started at 7:30pm and special operations had to be called in to free the hostages.
“We had to use stun grenades to free the ministers and in the process, we had arrested 56 people and they will be charges with three counts of kidnapping,” said Naidoo.
Earlier the spokesperson of the military veterans Lwazi Mzobe said that there was no hostage, but they had wanted to talk about their challenges.
Mzobe listed a number of demands, which had resulted in the arrest of more than 50 people who will wake up in the police holding cells.
Their demands range from R4,4 million per ex combatant, medical aid for their children and families, housing allowance and the amendment to the Military Veterans Act and they also demanded to be addressed directly by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Huge police trucks that normally ferry inmates to court came in droves at the hotel to load those who were arrested.
“We demand R4,4 million each and medical aid for ourselves and our children,” said Mzobe.
Gungubele addressed the matter after he was freed with Modise and Makwetla were he said that the doors were locked and that was when him and his colleagues had realized that they were held hostage.
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