78-year-old pensioner Nchaupe Seabi is suing the office of the Public Protector for R350 000 after the court found that he was assaulted by Sphelo Samuel, the parliamentary whistle-blower against Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane
“He approached me and pick up the chair that I was sitted at. I stood up, he then throw the chair. He picked me up and hit me against the door which was glass door [sic].”
“I fell down and felt pain on my right sight. I stood up feeling extreme pain,” his statement continues.On October 6 2017, the regional court in Polokwane found Samuel, an official in the Public Protector’s office currently based in Bloemfontein in the Free State, guilty of common assault.Samuel did not disclose this payment in his affidavit under oath to the Speaker of Parliament, Thandi Modise, dated February 11 2020, nor in a follow-up interview with the SABC on Monday.
The elderly Seabi, however, felt so strongly about the incident that he even drove to the National Prosecuting Authority’s offices in Pretoria and persuaded the deputy public prosecutor to hear his case before court. It eventually came before Magistrate MM Mamabolo in November 2016.The court sentenced him to a “R2 000 fine or two months’ imprisonment, half of which is suspended for a period of five years on condition that the accused is not convicted again during the period of suspension”.
“This was done without prejudice to my rights as I had 14 days after that date to apply for leave to appeal, which I did. He also said that he had not been able to attend the pre-trial meeting “as I suffered major depression towards the end of 2019”. He said that he returned to work on January 2 and, “on receiving treatment for depression, I also decided to appeal the criminal conviction against me”.
“I insisted to see him as I know his office. I went to his office and I found him talking on the phone. I greeted him and set down as he was busy on the phone. After he dropped he told me that he is busy and didn’t have time to assist me. I asked him to brief me on my case as I am at the office [sic].”
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