The National Prosecuting Authority has disputed Free State police whistle-blower Patricia Morgan-Mashale’s claims that the warrant of arrest that forced her to flee SA in fear of her life has been withdrawn.
In fact, spokesperson in the Free State Phaladi Shuping said the whistleblower was supposed to appear in the court on 3 March.
“She did not come to court and a warrant was issued for her arrest and the case was postponed for her tracing,” he said.
Morgan-Mashaler is facing charges of violating a Protection Order obtained by deputy provincial police commissioner Major-General Thabang Lesia, one of the senior police officers she allegedly blew the whistle on.
Fearing for her life
In February, the whistleblower refused to come out of hiding to appear in the Bloemfontein Magistrates’ Court in fear of her life, with her lawyer appearing on her behalf.
But when the new magistrate took over the matter, a warrant for her arrest was issued when Morgan-Mashale failed to arrive in court earlier this month.
ALSO READ: ‘I’m the walking dead’- Whistleblower survives 2 hits after exposing graft in SAPS
Despite her plea that she feared that she would be killed if she came to court, accepted by the previous magistrate, the new magistrate went on and issued a warrant for her arrest, leaving the whistleblower with no other choice but to flee SA.
“I will be in court [this] week. Apparently, the magistrate who issued the warrant of arrest said she was not aware of my situation, which is a blatant lie because she was made aware of my situation, but she made an influenced decision and didn’t care about the repercussions for me. Would she have said the same thing when I was killed in detention and no longer there to defend myself?” she said in a text message.
Persecution, not prosecution
According to the whistleblower, Lesia accused her of spreading false allegations of corruption against him and implicating him in protected disclosures to then police commissioner General Khehla Sitole and opened the case on 30 August 2021.
Morgan-Mashale, a former Saps administration clerk, said she was subsequently accosted by two officers in her office and her personal cell phone seized.
ALSO READ: Police whistleblower flees SA for her safety
The whistleblower believes her prosecution is malicious and that she was being persecuted for blowing the whistle on corruption.
Human rights activists Mary de Haas wrote to the chief magistrate, copied to the office of the Chief Justice Raymond Zondo and others, asking that they investigate the circumstances under which the warrant for the whistleblower’s arrest issued.
She asked that the investigation must particularly establish why the warrant was issued for a law-abiding woman under threat of death from the police who would execute the warrant in the first place.
Cancel warrant of arrest
“Immediately cancel this warrant so that she does not have to fear police using it as a justification to take her away and kill her,” De Haas said in the letter that The Citizen has seen.
In her report on Morgan-Mashale’s plight, she stated that to be in hiding for over a year has taken a serious toll on Patricia Morgan-Mashale health, emotional and financial wellbeing.
“She has always been a devoted mother, ever-present for the [her] children, who range in age from adulthood to an eleven-year-old son. The rights of this child, especially, have been seriously violated by SAPS management and our government executive – caring naught for our Constitution – do nothing to stop it,” she charged.
In January, The Citizen reported how Morgan-Mashale claimed she would be dead today if it were not for efforts of a lone crime intelligence officer who risked his own career to protect her.
The whistleblower claims her nightmare began in 2020 after reporting senior police officers for alleged corruption related to unlawful appointments, including the appointment of foreign nationals in crime intelligence, and irregular promotions.
NOW READ: Whistleblowers require more support and resources, says expert
