‘Nothing good comes from alcohol’ – Cele says booze central in death of KZN teen ‘Bobo’
Responding to News24’s questions on the visit, Peters offered a lengthy explanation.
She said Cele visited at least two specific residential areas, where there had been reports of “business as usual with little police visibility”.
She said Cele was in KwaDambuza and “walked a couple of streets, where the minister stopped several times to engage community members”.
Peters said that, in relation to the tip-offs she mentioned previously, both police officials and Cele regularly received tip-offs from the public.
“It is from these tip-offs that a number of arrests have been effected for various serious contraventions of the Covid-19 Disaster Management [Act] regulations.”
She added that, in response to similar tip-offs, Cele stopped to engage with residents of two homes on the same street as the Nzimande homestead, “where the minister also made a stop”.
She said he proceeded to the next street, then to a few malls and to other operations, where he “continued to engage with members of the public”.
One of Cele’s stops
“It is important to emphasise that there was no personal visit, but rather one of a number of stops made by Minister Cele.”
However, Peters failed to answer News24’s questions on whether any arrests or formal investigations arose from the tip-off.
She said law-abiding citizens, who wish to remain anonymous, have confidence in Cele and send tip-offs knowing “that their information will be acted on and their identities not compromised”.
“It is for this reason that police can never disclose or confirm where and how tip-offs are sourced from.”
She also declined to answer why normal policing channels were not followed by those in Nzimande’s home.
Nzimande’s spokesperson Ishmael Mnisi said the minister was “aware that Minister Cele was on a walkabout in Pietermaritzburg and passed at Minister Nzimande’s parental house after visiting numerous houses in the area to monitor compliance of the lockdown regulations”.
“Minister Nzimande has no problem about the visit because Minister Cele was performing his responsibilities in the area and many other places.”
