The use of a teenager in the murder of baby Jordan-Leigh Norton was ”exploitation, and the worst form of child labour”, it was contended in papers before the Cape High Court on Monday.
The papers were filed by Susannah Cowen, on behalf of the Community Law Centre (CLC) of the University of Cape Town, which took up the plight of Bonginkosi Sigenu, the youngest of the five people convicted of the murder.
Sigenu is in the dock with Dina Rodrigues and Sipho Mfazwe, Mongezi Bobotyane and Zanethemba Gwada.
Cowen initially sought to join Sigenu’s counsel, Caryl Verrier, as a ”friend of the court”, but in Monday’s proceedings abandoned her mission and left her papers for Verrier to use for the benefit of Sigenu.
The documents were handed to the court on Monday, and now form part of the record.
Cowen contended that South Africa was obliged by international law to eliminate child labour.
She said the CLC did not wish to underplay the culpability of a child offender, but the court had to recognise that Sigenu had been instigated and secured by adults, and was offered a reward for his involvement. This had to be taken into account.
She said Sigenu was only 16 at the time of the murder, which meant that a life sentence, as prescribed for premeditated murder, could not be applied to him.
Also, the presence of adult influence was a strong mitigating factor for him, she said.
Because documentation needed by the defence team, such as probation and corrective supervision reports, was not yet complete, the case was postponed to June 18.
Spectators packed into the spacious upper gallery of the court room to follow the case on Monday.
Shortly before Judge Basheer Waglay entered the court with his two assessors, someone in the gallery said loudly to Rodrigues down in the dock: ”Good morning, Dina.”
She ignored the greeting and conversed with her attorney.
Monday’s proceedings started almost an hour late as the defence and prosecution teams discussed their problems with the judge in chambers.
When the proceedings commenced, Waglay said no one had any control over the delay.
He said he expected all parties to be ready when the case resumed. — Sapa