Gavin du Venage
GAUTENG Safety and Security Minister Jessie Duarte has=20 been snubbed by magistrates after they refused to meet=20 her to discuss bail conditions for people charged with=20 violent crimes.
Duarte asked for a meeting last month to discuss bail=20 conditions, in particular those for people accused of=20 taxi-related violence. The request was turned down=20 without an explanation.
The meeting would have been about a long term plan to=20 reduce Gauteng’s notorious crime rate. At last week’s=20 launch of the latest Gauteng anti-crime drive, Duarte=20 said she wanted bail conditions tightened. Accused who=20 fell under “category A” crimes — violent crimes where=20 witnesses were available — should be denied bail,=20 Duarte said.
Officials in the attorney general’s office suspect=20 magistrates are afraid to meet Duarte as it could make=20 them vulnerable to accusations of bias from anyone who=20 has strong feelings on the issue of bail. Politicians=20 could accuse them of violating an understanding to=20 withhold bail if a suspect is let out of custody were=20 magistrates to view the request with sympathy. “It=20 would be easy for politicians to hold magistrates=20 responsible for any bail judgment that is unpopular=20 with the public,” one official said.
However, Duarte is determined to get tighter bail=20 conditions. In this, at least , she has the full=20 support of acting Witwatersrand Attorney General Kevin=20 Attwell. Attwell has given the assurance that his=20 department will do everything possible to ensure bail=20 for people accused of violent crimes was curtailed.=20
Prosecutors have been instructed to oppose bail in all=20 violence-related crimes. Unlike his predecessor Klaus=20 von Lieres, Attwell has a good relationship with=20 Duarte’s office. Safety and Security department=20 officials describe him as “refreshing” and “eager to=20 work together”.
“Magistrates are seized with an inquisitorial role and=20 no longer just sit on the bench as a kind of referee,”=20 Attwell told the Mail & Guardian. Previously=20 magistrates would balance the evidence supplied by the=20 police against that of the accused. Attwell says=20 magistrates were placed in a much better position=20 following a supreme court decision on the bail=20 application of two Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging members=20 accused in last year’s rightwing bombing campaign.
In a bail application brought on behalf of two of the=20 accused, the court found that the onus to prove why an=20 accused should remain in custody should not necessarily=20 be with the state. Instead, there should be no onus,=20 but the magistrate should actively investigate the=20 matter before reaching a decision.
Johannesburg senior public prosecutor Brink Ferreira=20 said bail applications did seem to be tighter than=20 they used to be. “In general magistrates do seem more=20 inclined to be stricter and more inquisitorial,”=20 Ferreira said. Although no formal statistics were=20 available, Ferreira said bail tended to be set at a=20 higher amount for violent crimes and conditions had=20 become more tight. One example, he said, was in the=20 issuing of bail to people accused of gang-related=20 crimes in Westbury.
“Because of the nature of crime in that area it is=20 possible to show a pattern related to accused out on=20 bail. Witnesses are intimidated or even killed. We can=20 at least place the pattern in front of the court to get=20 a stronger attitude towards bail,” he said.
However, Ferreira says the major problem prosecutors=20 have to deal with is that of children accused of=20 serious crimes. More than half are back on the streets=20 days after being arrested for such acts as car theft=20 and murder.
“More than half of arrested children escape from places=20 of safety,” he said. And those that are released on=20 their own recognisance almost never show up in court.