For the first time in South African legal history, the state was on Monday ordered by the Cape High Court to pay wasted costs in a criminal case involving a woman who is alleged to have murdered her husband.
It was the first time that costs had been awarded against the state in a criminal case. Costs were previously awarded only against the loser in civil claims.
Monday’s order, by Justice Burton Fourie, was made possible by a recent amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act, aimed at drastically curbing delays in criminal cases caused by state negligence.
Petroleen de Wet was arrested in May 2000 for the alleged murder of her husband, who was shot dead in his Pniel home near Stellenbosch the same month.
She was released on bail after six weeks in custody, after which she made at least nine appearances in the Stellenbosch Magistrate’s Court, before her case was placed on the Cape High Court roll.
Her trial in the Cape High Court was fixed for August 6 2001, but failed to start and was instead reset for November 26 2001.
Because the state was still not ready to proceed in November 2001, deputy Judge President Jeanette Traverso struck the matter from the roll, with an order that it could only be re-enrolled with a certificate from the local Directorate for Public Prosecutions confirming the case was ready for trial.
However, the state not only ignored the court order requiring the Directorate of Public Prosecutions certificate, but placed the case on the roll on Monday (June 9 2003) — only to ask for yet another postponement because there was no judge available to preside over the case.
Defence attorney Hein von Lieries demanded the first time implementation of the amended legislation that enabled the court to award wasted costs against the state.
Fourie said the defence demand was appropriate as the case should not have been placed on the roll without the required certificate. – Sapa