EFF councillor accused of assaulting cops released on warning
EFF PR councillor in Alexandra Moshe Mphahlele (35) has been released on warning from police custody.
He was arrested on Monday following a scuffle at the Alexandra Police Station.
Mphahlele appeared before the Alexandra Magistrate Court on Tuesday afternoon on charges of intimidation, assault, public violence and interfering with police work.
During an interview with the Alex Reporter after his release, the EFF councillor said he didn’t know or understand why he was arrested.
“We had brought the suspected rapist to the police station to be arrested, however the officers did not arrest him instead he was told to sit down in the charge office, we then asked why he was not arrested. Then an argument broke out between officers and the angry residents.”
Mphahlele says he was pepper-sprayed by the police during the scuffle.
“One officer threatened to strike the residents with a chair and then one of the residents poured water onto the officers and we got pepper sprayed. I could not see.”
His version of events are however different from those articulated by Alexandra police spokesperson, Sergeant Simphiwe Mbatha, while confirming Mphahlele’s arrest on Monday.
Mbatha told the Alex Reporter that: “Suspect together with a group of residents stormed our police station on Sunday demanding the release of a suspect accused of rape. I can confirm that a 35-year-old man is in police custody for assaulting our officers and staff members.”
Mphahlele has meanwhile dismissed claims that his arrest was politically motivated.
He is due back in court on 18 November.
