/ 31 December 1999

PAGAD COURT APPEARANCE DELAYED

PAGAD national co-ordinator Abdus Salaam Ebrahim, together with his wife Zanie and two other unnamed Pagad members will remain behind bars until Tuesday. Ebrahim was arrested in a dawn raid on his home on Wednesday for, amongst other things, the 1996 lynching of Cape Flats gangster Rashaad Staggie. His wife Zanie was arrested for allegedly being in possession of an unlicensed firearm. The two other Pagad members were allegedly found in possession of modified cellphones. Police said they were similar to the ones used in recent bomb attacks in Cape Town. They were expected to appear in court within 48-hours of their arrest. But Sipho Ngwema, the spokesman for the National Director of Public Prosecutions, said on Friday that the courts are closed for the New Year.