Police fire warning shot to stop man smashing Constitutional Court windows

05 January 2022 - 13:13
subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now
The Constitutional Court building in Johannesburg was attacked by a man with a hammer on Wednesday morning.
The Constitutional Court building in Johannesburg was attacked by a man with a hammer on Wednesday morning.
Image: mama canna via Twitter

A man was arrested on Wednesday morning for allegedly using a hammer to smash the windows of the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg.

National police spokesperson Lt-Col Robert Netshiunda said the SAPS were called at midmorning as a man was found breaking the windows.

When police arrived, the man, estimated to be in his mid-30s, was still busy with his attack.

Netshiunda said he did not stop smashing them until police fired a warning shot.

He was taken into custody and will appear in court shortly.

According to Netshiunda, the man told police why he was smashing the windows, but Netshiunda said that information would not be made public until he had had a psychiatric evaluation.

Judges Matter, an independent judicial monitoring agency, condemned the “attack” on the apex court.

The agency said in a statement the attack was directed at the front windows of the court building, near the Great Steps on Constitution Hill.

“Though it’s not clear at this stage whether this relates to the release of the report of the Zondo commission into state capture, it is nevertheless gravely worrying. Judges Matter condemns this outrageous attack on the Constitutional Court building as a symbol of our judiciary and constitutional democracy in SA.

“The [incident on] the Constitutional Court building comes only a few days after a devastating fire ravaged the National Assembly building.

“We call on law enforcement authorities to act swiftly to investigate, arrest and prosecute those responsible for this damage and to take urgent measures to protect critical institutions of our democracy.”

TimesLIVE


subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now

Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.

Speech Bubbles

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.