Paul Kirk
Jonty Sandler, one of South Africa’s most high-profile businessmen, could inexplicably not be found when police attempted to execute a warrant for his arrest for alleged rape, and he remains a free man a month later.
“The warrant should have been executed. If someone is to be arrested then he must be arrested – no matter who he is. I do not know how this man managed to stay free, but it is a serious matter. Evidence may have been lost because of this,” says police representative Superintendent Dawood Kader.
Sandler, disgraced former executive director of New Africa Investments Limited, was accused of rape by a Himeville Arms hotel security guard who claimed Sandler dragged him into his room in the early hours of the morning.
After the ordeal the guard immediately went to Himeville police station in Underberg in KwaZulu-Natal where he laid criminal charges. The guard was taken to a district surgeon who confirmed that he was sodomised.
A warrant for Sandler’s arrest was issued on the basis of the forensic evidence and the affidavit of the complainant to the police.
In the early hours of the following morning, police went to the hotel to arrest Sandler and found he had fled – days before he was expected to check out.
After being notified of his imminent arrest more than two weeks after the warrant was issued, Sandler sent his lawyers to see KwaZulu-Natal deputy director of public prosecutions Gert Engelbrecht. After consultation Engelbrecht agreed to stay the warrant of arrest until the investigation was complete.
Sandler agreed to hand himself over to police if charges were ever formulated against him. He claims the sodomy was not rape and that sodomy is not a crime.
Engelbrecht was absent from work with sick leave this week. However, his colleague Andr Loubscher, who is handling the matter in his absence, says a decision will be made “very soon” on whether to prosecute Sandler.