The man who wants to arrest the president

WHAT was meant to be a peaceful commemoration of national Women’s Day in Richmond started in chaos as an ordinary citizen had his mind set on arresting President Cyril Ramaphosa, who was in attendance.

But who was this person and was he within his rights to do so?

Srinivasen Naidoo, 54, from Durban, chairperson of the non-profit organisation Real Democracy, believed he was.

Naidoo, who used to own a telecommunications business but now is unemployed, established the organisation last year.

He said their mission was to fight corruption and injustice.

Real Democracy has the support of about 30 members, said Naidoo.

He was among those who laid charges against Ramaphosa at the Durban Central police station when details emerged of the president’s alleged concealment of millions of dollars at his Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo.

The charges Naidoo brought against Ramaphosa include secretly hoarding and concealing foreign currency, abuse of state resources and defeating the ends of justice.

Talking to the Sunday Tribune about what he intended to do on Tuesday, Naidoo said he felt obligated as a citizen of the country to arrest Ramaphosa because of the “snail’s pace” of the investigation processes into the Phala Phala scandal.

He said a case was opened against the president in June, and he was worried that Ramaphosa had still not been arrested.

“Since a case was opened against Ramaphosa we were intending to hand him over to the nearest police station in Richmond.

“It is clear there is no investigation against him, which is why he hasn’t been arrested,” he said.

Naidoo said although this was his first citizen’s arrest attempt, he would be taking further action against Ramaphosa.

“In fact nobody has done this before, including myself. I was very disappointed when the police blocked my efforts in doing so. If only the police had allowed me to go to him (Ramaphosa) and hand him the charges, the arrest would have been successful,” he said.

Naidoo said the Criminal Procedure Act provided for citizen’s arrests, and he felt he was denied executing this right.

“This act is not limited to South Africa but it is practised all over the world,” said Naidoo.

John Jeffery, the Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, who was also at the event and witnessed the ruckus caused by Naidoo, said as far as he knew the Act applied to a person who attempted to break into a car or home.

“The victim can then hand the suspect over to the police. The Act does not provide for what Mr Naidoo attempted to do,” said Jeffery.

He confirmed that a group of people intended handing a charge sheet to Ramaphosa but security denied access to the president.