Rehana Roussouw
BANISHMENT to the Clanwilliam Magistrate’s Court kitchen has not dissuaded prosecutor Jonas White from mobilising his community against crime. Since mid-August, White has been stripped of his office and his duties and forced to spend every working day in the kitchen.
The University of the Western Cape-trained lawyer, who has been a prosecutor in Clanwilliam for three years, believes his demotion is linked to his attempts to root out local corruption.
White was elected as a councillor in last November’s local government elections and has attempted to investigate alleged corrupt activities by former town officials. He was also active in the Clanwilliam Community Forum, which has been battling for months with the police to root out members of the criminal gang, The Firm, who have established themselves in the town. This attracted the ire of gangs and White said he has been told that a price of R50 000 has been put on his head.
He has also angered farmers, particularly after successfully prosecuting a farmer after one of his workers said his employer had stripped him and poured industrial- strength disinfectant over him. The farmer paid a R60 admission of guilt fine.
“The farmers and councillors began a campaign of letter-writing to the attorney general, Frank Khan, claiming that I was a disgrace to my position as a prosecutor because of my activities in the community,” White said.
“In mid-August, the senior prosecutor decided I should no longer deal with the public, removed me from my office and banished me to the kitchen in the court building.
“I then reported for work every day but went straight to the kitchen where I would sit until it was time to leave. The community heard what was happening, and marched on the magistrate’s court demanding that I be reinstated.”
Khan sent an official to investigate. White has not yet been informed of the outcome.
The police, the Department of Justice and the Western Cape attorney general’s office failed to reply to Mail & Guardian questions.