Durban — EThekwini Municipality ward 66 councillor Zoë Solomon has demanded an apology from the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) after it “wrongfully” accused her of aiding and abetting a suspect to get bail.
Ward 66 encompasses the Bluff, Wentworth, Austerville and surrounding areas south-east of central Durban. Solomon last week issued a councillor’s letter (proof of address) to the family of a suspect who lives in her ward. The address was required by the court during a bail application hearing.
The court granted bail but later the State alleged that the wrong address had been given. It also said that the area did not fall within her ward and issued a warrant of arrest for the councillor, accusing her of defeating the ends of justice.
A fuming Solomon told the Daily News on Wednesday that, she still did not understand where the NPA and the investigating officer got their information from because the address was in her ward.
“I was accused of aiding and abetting a ‘known criminal’, ridiculed for assisting him, told I was being arrested and the warrant is already issued for defeating the ends of justice. I was mentally, emotionally and definitely verbally abused and traumatised to the point of asking for debriefing by a trauma counsellor” she said.
Solomon said every time her phone rang she always thinks of the threatening calls from the policeman who called her saying he was coming to arrest her. She added that she was triggered when her dog barks at the gate.
Giving the background to the saga, the councillor said she was approached by the family of the suspect who asked for a proof of address letter which she issued.
She said a few days later she received a call from the policeman who asked her why she issued a proof of address letter to a person not living in her ward and told her a warrant of arrest had been issued for her.
Despite telling the policeman that the area did fall under her ward, he did not want to hear that and continued to threaten her with arrest. The councillor said she has since obtained an affidavit from the family confirming that they were living in her ward and their son also lives in the family address unless he is out for work.
The DA, which is Solomon’s party, has come to her defence.
In a statement, it said it had done an investigation and found no wrongdoing by the councillor.
The DA said the address in question was in the ward under the jurisdiction of councillor Solomon and it was not the job of the councillor to verify residential addresses for bail applications.
This was the responsibility of the state which it appeared did not do its job properly in this instance.
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Daily News