/ 9 January 2000

PAGAD LOW ON FUNDS

PEOPLE Against Gangsterism and Drugs (Pagad) is running out of money and battling to fund legal representation for 23 members facing criminal charges. In an interview with Sunday Argus Ebrahim Francis admitted Pagad is in dire financial straits. “Our people are being arrested under scheduled offences, which means they have to prove why they should be let out on bail. None of our members has been allowed out on bail and this is the State’s way of keeping our members in jail,” he said. He said Pagad’s lawyer, Adiel Theunissen, often acts for members at a low rate and sometimes represents them for free. Francis said that although it is difficult to determine how many people belonged to Pagad, more than 500 people work in the group’s 18 structures.