SOUTH African police said Friday they have arrested 56 people who will likely face charges of kidnapping after two government Cabinet ministers and a deputy minister were held hostage for three hours when a meeting with military veterans of the fight against apartheid ended in disagreement.
Police were called to a hotel in the Centurion area near the capital Pretoria on Thursday night to rescue Defence and Military Veterans Minister Thandi Modise, her deputy minister Thabang Makwetla, and Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele, who had been meeting with veterans of various groups that were part of the armed struggle which started in the 1960s against the apartheid regime in South Africa.
The meeting broke down quickly and the three government officials were prevented from leaving the room by some of the veterans, Gungubele said.
Police tried to negotiate with the hostage-takers and when that failed they “resorted to a
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