Fidentia boss J Arthur Brown’s lawyer withdrew unexpectedly in the Cape Town Regional Court on Tuesday, citing Brown’s lack of funds.
Attorney William Booth was excused by Magistrate Wilma van der Merwe and attorney Joe Weeber took his place.
Brown’s appearance in the regional court was connected to embezzlement charges involving Fidentia and the Transport, Education and Training Authority, on which he is out on R5 000 bail.
He was warned to return to the court on July 7.
Brown then stepped into the dock in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court, where he had scheduled a bail application following his re-arrest on similar charges involving the Antheru Trust.
However, the proceedings in the magistrate’s court, before Justhree Steyn, focused on whether he be remanded to Pollsmoor Prison, notorious for gangster attacks, or to the safer prison at Goodwood.
The bail application itself was postponed to Friday.
Brown alleges he was raped in a prison vehicle taking him and prison inmates from court back to Pollsmoor Prison, and had since been under psychiatric treatment at a private clinic.
Scorpions senior counsel, Bruce Morrison told the court the psychiatrist involved had said that Brown was ready to be discharged from the clinic, but that Brown needed ongoing treatment as an out-patient.
Morrison said he had no objection to Brown being transferred from Pollsmoor to the Goodwood Prison for his safety.
District surgeon Paul Theron, who was previously a full time doctor at Pollsmoor, but was now based at the Somerset Hospital near the Cape Town CBD, told the court that gang attacks on Pollsmoor inmates were caused by inadequate prisoner-safety measures.
He told the court: ”Pollsmoor Prison officials do not adhere to the law, in regard to the safety of persons in custody.”
He and other doctors involved with Brown needed to be assured that Brown would be in a safe prison environment if he remained in custody.
”I’m not talking about special treatment for anyone — safety in a prison environment should be a matter of course, and not something exceptional,” he added.
He said Brown was now a ”marked man” due to the alleged rape incident, and that he would be in danger if remanded back to Pollsmoor.
The magistrate said he was legally obliged to remand Brown to Pollsmoor, but that he would make an exception, as a matter of safety. – Sapa