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After a day of speculation, the chairperson of the Pro-Makhado demarcation task team, Arnold Mulaudzi, confirmed this afternoon that he had been arrested.
Speaking to Mukurukuru Media over the phone, he said: “How can you want to talk to me while I am still arrested?”
Asked why he was in possession of his cellphone if he was under arrest, Mulaudzi said he was in court for a bail application.
“I am in court. I am still in the holding cells,” he said. But his line went dead thereafter.
Police refused to confirm his arrest on Wednesday, saying they could only name the suspect who was arrested for alleged violation of the Electoral Act once he’d appeared in court.
Rumours of Mulaudzi’s arrest caused uncertainty in the volatile Vuwani area where residents were unsure if they would be allowed to vote after the Pro-Makhado Task Team announced it would boycott the election.
Mulaudzi is alleged to have been arrested on the eve of voting day at his house.
Speaking on PhalaphalaFM on Wednesday morning, the chairperson of the task team, Takalani Emmanuel Mukhudi, said he had tried to get hold of Mulaudzi several times upon hearing of his arrest but without any success.
“His family said that people who identified themselves as the police arrived at Mulaudzi’s house and asked to see him. It appears that he went away with those people,” he said.
However, on Thursday morning rumours surfaced on social media that Mulaudzi had been granted R5000 bail by the Vuwani Magistrates’ Court on charges of “intimidation, incitement of violence and contravening an electoral process following the utterances he made in an interview with the SABC.”
Limpopo Police Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo could not on Wednesday confirm if the person arrested was Mulaudzi. However, he said that one suspect was arrested in the Vuwani area on Tuesday night.
“Due to police investigations which are still under way, we cannot reveal the suspect’s identity and other details regarding the arrest,” Mojapelo said.
Attempts to get hold of Mukhudi for more information regarding Mulaudzi’s situation were unsuccessful as his phone went unanswered. Mukurukuru Media is still in the process of verifying Mulaudzi’s court details. – Mukurukuru Media
