ANC member caught assaulting female marcher to appear in court

6th February 2018 By: News24Wire

ANC member caught assaulting female marcher to appear in court

The African National Congress (ANC) branch secretary, who was caught on camera kicking a woman during the "Hands off Zuma" march outside Luthuli House on Monday, is expected to appear in court, police said.

Lieutenant Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said Thabiso Setona is to appear in the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court on Tuesday on a charge of assault.

Setona was caught on camera on Monday kicking a woman while she was on the ground outside Luthuli House.

The woman, a suspected member of the Black First Land First (BLF) party, was part of a group of people who marched to the ANC's headquarters demanding that President Jacob Zuma see out his term amid calls for him to be recalled as president.

Following the assault, the ANC immediately announced that Setona had been suspended from the party.

The ANC’s regional spokesperson Jolidee Matongo confirmed that Setona handed himself over to police on Monday following the assault.

"He handed himself over to the police and gave them his statement... We are also in the process of instituting a disciplinary hearing," Matongo said.

"We are an organisation that is supposed to be upholding the rule of law and we are supposed to protect people, even if they don't hold the same view as ours. We are disappointed; hence we took the decision to suspend him with immediate effect."