Government will on Friday morning hold a media briefing on a drama in which military veterans held three ministers hostage at a hotel in Irene, Pretoria.
Defence and Military Veterans Minister Thandi Modise, her deputy Thabang Makwetla as well as Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele were held hostage on Thursday night.
Gungubele says they had told their bodyguards not to act because doing so would have exacerbated an already volatile situation.
Fifty-six of the military veterans were arrested following the hostage drama.
They are believed to have belonged to the African National Congress’ (ANC) military wing uMkhonto we Sizwe, the Pan Africanist Congress’ (PAC), the Azanian People’s Liberation Army (APLA) and the Azanian People’s Organisation’s (AZAPO) Azanian National Liberation Army ( AZANLA).
National Police Spokesperson Vish Naidoo says, “From the security point of view, I think what the police have done was exceptional and they were able to diffuse what was potentially a hostage situation and in the process, no one was hurt.”
Meanwhile, UDM leader Bantu Holomisa has called on the Defence and Military Veterans Department to urgently deal with the plight of military veterans.
In the video below, SABC reporter, Samkele Maseko reports on the hostage incident:
