A criminal case has been opened at the Blue Water police station near Kwelerha against expelled Economic Freedom Fighters Eastern Cape leader Themba Wele.
Police spokesman Captain Mluleki Mbi said yesterday: “Mr Wele is alleged to have threatened occupants of a farm to vacate or else their properties will be destroyed. No arrests have been made at this stage.”
Mbi said a case of intimidation had been opened.
One tenant on the farm had allegedly already left due to the threats, Mbi said.
The case against Wele was opened on Tuesday by an unidentified 72-year-old Congolese woman who inherited the farm from her late husband.
The woman has been in the country for 20 years and is a South African citizen.
Contacted for comment, Wele, who was born and grew up in Kwelerha, yesterday denied intimidating the woman, claiming the only interaction he had with her was under instruction from the community.
“The community wrote a letter to her and a copy was furnished to the police. I am not going to discuss the contents of the letter with you.
“I will deal with this woman and when I’m done with her I will deal with you,” he said, and then put the phone down.
Wele, a former member of the Eastern Cape Legislature, was cast into the political wilderness this week when he lost his court bid to get a temporary order preventing his removal from legislature.
The order now paves the way for the EFF to elect a new representative in the legislature after a year-long stand-off since a decision was taken in February last year to suspend and later expel Wele.
Throughout the saga, Wele continued to earn a R1-million annual salary as leader of a minority party in the provincial legislature, plus benefits including medical aid, an iPhone, a state house and a tablet, pending the court’s decision. Wele brought the court application late last year against the EFF, the provincial legislature and its speaker Noxolo Kiviet as respondents.
Expelled EFF’s Wele faces intimidation case
Police spokesman Captain Mluleki Mbi said yesterday: “Mr Wele is alleged to have threatened occupants of a farm to vacate or else their properties will be destroyed. No arrests have been made at this stage.”
Mbi said a case of intimidation had been opened.
One tenant on the farm had allegedly already left due to the threats, Mbi said.
The case against Wele was opened on Tuesday by an unidentified 72-year-old Congolese woman who inherited the farm from her late husband.
The woman has been in the country for 20 years and is a South African citizen.
Contacted for comment, Wele, who was born and grew up in Kwelerha, yesterday denied intimidating the woman, claiming the only interaction he had with her was under instruction from the community.
“The community wrote a letter to her and a copy was furnished to the police. I am not going to discuss the contents of the letter with you.
“I will deal with this woman and when I’m done with her I will deal with you,” he said, and then put the phone down.
Wele, a former member of the Eastern Cape Legislature, was cast into the political wilderness this week when he lost his court bid to get a temporary order preventing his removal from legislature.
The order now paves the way for the EFF to elect a new representative in the legislature after a year-long stand-off since a decision was taken in February last year to suspend and later expel Wele.
Throughout the saga, Wele continued to earn a R1-million annual salary as leader of a minority party in the provincial legislature, plus benefits including medical aid, an iPhone, a state house and a tablet, pending the court’s decision. Wele brought the court application late last year against the EFF, the provincial legislature and its speaker Noxolo Kiviet as respondents.
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