The animal cruelty case against National Assembly Speaker Thandi Modise has been dismissed.
Modise appeared before the Potchefstroom Regional Court on Friday, where she is being privately prosecuted for animal cruelty by AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit, on behalf of the National Council of Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA).
The court agreed with the arguments made by Modise’s legal representative, advocate Dali Mpofu SC, that she could not be held responsible for what happened on the farm.
Mpofu brought a Section 174 application after the prosecution closed its case on Thursday.
The court found that a man hired to look after the animals, but who had left after he had not been paid and was hungry, should be held responsible for the crimes committed.
The court subsequently found Modise not guilty of the charges.
Modise was charged with six counts of animal cruelty relating to the dozens of animals that died or were found emaciated on her farm in the North West in 2014, while she was still the province’s premier.
More than 50 pigs and a number of other animals, including sheep, chickens, and geese, were already dead when the NSPCA first inspected the farm. A further 224 animals had to be put down, the charge sheet read.
This is a developing story.
