South African ministers 'held hostage' during meeting with veterans

South African special forces broke into a hotel room on Thursday night to rescue the defence minister and two other politicians who had been held hostage for three hours by veterans of the struggle against apartheid.

The dramatic raid on a hotel in Pretoria, Johannesburg, happened after hostage negotiators had failed to secure the release of the politicians, who had been meeting the veterans to discuss their demand that their service in overturning apartheid recognised with compensation of £200,000.

The meeting was going badly when the ministers tried to leave, but the veterans closed and barricaded the doors.

Following three hours of hostage negotiation, soldiers entered the room and rescued Thandi Modise and her deputy, Thabang Makwetla as well as a minister in the presidency, Mondli Gungubele, without a shot being fired but reportedly leaving scorch marks on the doors.

The hostage situation prompted some South Africans to ask whether veterans are claiming too much credit for victory, with people on Friday saying it was popular uprisings like the Sharpeville protests of 1960 that focused the world's attention on apartheid system and helped end it.

The issues that led to the fractious meeting were long-standing grievances among the veterans over compensation for their role in the fight against apartheid. They demand medical insurance, housing, and schooling for their children, and £200,000 payout.

According to one veteran, Lesley Kgogo, the United Nations had made a large amount of money available for the repatriation of the exiled armies in around 1994, when South Africa had its first democratic elections.

He claimed the money was given to the African National Congress, and the veterans had wanted to know what happened to the money as it had not reached military veterans for its intended purposes.

In a video statement, Mr Gungubele said the ministers and the veterans had failed to reach an agreement on how the meeting should take place and decided to adjourn it.

Veterans had expected to be talking to South Africa’s deputy president, David Mabuza, but the three cabinet ministers were attending in his place. Several veterans said this was not acceptable.

"As we were leaving the meeting, proceeding to the doors, they (the veterans) closed the doors. It is at that point when we realised that we're held hostage," Mr Gungubele said.

Mr Gungubele said the three government ministers had not expected the meeting would be so bad-tempered.

“There was no basis to believe that this could happen,” he said. He added that the government had engaged with the veterans over the past 11 months.

He conceded that the concerns of the veterans were legitimate but said that their actions were illegal.

Scenes broadcast on local television showed unidentified people in the room lying on their stomachs during the incident, and an empty hospital gurney.