Miscarriage of justice

[Angelo]

NPA to appeal ‘shock verdict’


Sizwe Sama Yende


The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is trying to rectify a “miscarriage of justice” after four men were fined R20 000 each last month for the gruesome murder of a 35-year-old man.

Senior Tzaneen Magistrates’ Court prosecutor Solomon Ngobeni is angry that magistrate Vic Smith downgraded a murder charge to assault and sentenced the men to a fine of R10 000 each.

Limpopo farmers Gerhardt Vorster and Jacobus Botha, security guard Johannes Badenhorst and farm labourer Lucky Manenzhe assaulted Allan Rapatsa in October last year after accusing him of stealing copper cables. They beat him to death.

They tied Rapatsa to a tree, pinched his genitals with pliers, punched and kicked him and flogged him with a sjambok.

Rapatsa’s head was then smashed against a tree stump.

Smith convicted the men of assault, a charge they pleaded guilty to, and fined them R20 000 each with R10 000 suspended for three years.

“I’m not happy with the ruling. It was not correct to downgrade the charge,” Ngobeni said.

NPA spokesperson Lucinda Moonieya said the NPA would appeal the sentence.

“We feel that the sentence is not in accordance with justice,” Moonieya said.

But Rapatsa’s case is not the only one where the scales of justice have been tilted.

Kabelo Thibedi’s conviction caused an outcry among political parties, the South African Human Rights Commission and the general public after he was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment last Thursday for holding a Johannesburg home affairs official, Anel Small, hostage with a toy gun in November last year.

He was granted leave to appeal and is out on R3 000 bail.

In 2001, farm worker William Laka (47) was shot dead with an R-4 rifle allegedly by nine members of the Mokopane Commando.

One suspect, Pieter Swanepoel, was charged with murder, but the charge was withdrawn so that an inquest hearing could be held to determine who pulled the trigger.

Naboomspruit senior prosecutor Elba Nel said the NPA subsequently decided not to prosecute Swanepoel.

A land rights non-governmental organisation, the Nkuzi Development Association, is suing the department of defence for R100 000 for loss of support for Laka’s wife.

Patricia Mosoane (33) is wheelchair bound after a stray bullet penetrated her skull in 1999.

The bullet allegedly came from the direction of farmers who were shooting birds at a nearby farm in the Marble Hall area in Mpumalanga.

All the suspects were found not guilty four years later due to lack of evidence.

The bullet is still lodged in her skull.

Doctors fear it would be fatal to remove it.

Nkuzi project officer Vasco Mabunda said they were in the process of bringing a civil claim against the perpetrators.

http://www.news24.com/City_Press/News/0,,186-187_2032540,00.html

 

[dlk001]

....it just shows that Justice System still needs some cleansing.

 

[Summoner]

Pity we can't add up all the white on black murders and all the black on white murders. Would be interesting to see the totals.

 

[icyrus]

Pathetic really. How long are we going to plod along with a broken justice system...

 

[DigitalSoldier]

....it just shows that Justice System still needs some cleansing.

I think they need to bring back the jury system for now maybe it will be better in the short term.

 

[dlk001]

I think they need to bring back the jury system for now maybe it will be better in the short term.

Lets hope they are considering ways to improve the situation. Something needs to be done.

 

[kilo39]

@Angelo: I note your decrying these miscarriages of justice but have nothing to say on all the rest (never mind our 'generally corrupt government' and the Yengeni, travelgate, armsgate, thousands of corrupt officials debacle.)

The study found Johannesburg had the lowest conviction rate in South Africa with 76 percent of murders and 92,8 percent of robberies with aggravating circumstances (including hijackings) remaining unsolved.
Why victims take law into own hands August 05 2003

 

[Angelo]

RPM you promptly edited my post for expressing my unhappiness at criminal acts....something that always happens on the forum. What was so bad about my post, are people allowed to express anger at crime only when the victims are white and the perpetrators black and not the other way round?

 

[sonxEr77]

Pity we can't add up all the white on black murders and all the black on white murders. Would be interesting to see the totals.

yet another racist comment! irrelevant i think..

 

[Leitmotif]

I think they need to bring back the jury system for now maybe it will be better in the short term.

...you'd really want a jury trying JZ? Or you, for that matter? At least judges can theoretically be held accountable for prejudice or incompetence.

 

[DigitalSoldier]

yet another racist comment! irrelevant i think..

Please explain how what he said is racism ? Definition of a racist :

A label given to a person, or group of people who hate/dislike those who belong to a different race. This typically applies to hatred based on skin-color.

So please show me what in that comment is racist ? He was just asking a question not portraying any hate towards black or white people.

 

[dlk001]

Maybe Summoner must explain how the comment is linked to the article? I also do not get the point.

 

[chiskop]

Please explain how what he said is racism ? Definition of a racist :

A label given to a person, or group of people who hate/dislike those who belong to a different race. This typically applies to hatred based on skin-color.

So please show me what in that comment is racist ? He was just asking a question not portraying any hate towards black or white people.

Would it make it any better if more/less of one group were killed by the other? Really, what difference does it make - this was a crime that should, on the face of it, have been more severely punished. It is an irrelevant question.

 

[DigitalSoldier]

Would it make it any better if more/less of one group were killed by the other? Really, what difference does it make - this was a crime that should, on the face of it, have been more severely punished. It is an irrelevant question.

Ok agreed its irrelevant and yes I agree these murders should have been punished A LOT worse. But just stating that summoner asked a question and then he was called a racist for no reason.

 

[Darth Garth]

All of these magistrates with these old Apartheid mentalities needs to be purged from the bench.

 

[sonxEr77]

just stating that summoner asked a question and then he was called a racist for no reason.

If you read the article, it is nonracial therefore would not expect any1 to view it in that manner.. A reply that already has anything to do with 'black/white' then raises my eyebrows cause the issue of this article is strictly law or justice in question.. Summoner is talking about

add up all the white on black murders and all the black on white murders

...

 

[Leitmotif]

All of these magistrates with these old Apartheid mentalities needs to be purged from the bench.

Ah, so a couple of thousand cases against common criminals fail due to lack of evidence, but when it's white men in the seat it's suddenly the apartheid judges' fault?

Don't understand the reasoning for the first case being reduced, though. That seems a little fishy, but it smells more of corruption than apartheid...

 

[IanC]

I think they need to bring back the jury system for now maybe it will be better in the short term.

To the best of my knowledge we never actually had it.

 

[Angelo]

Tibby is right, Apartheid judges need to go!

 

[Vrotappel]

All of these magistrates with these old Apartheid mentalities needs to be purged from the bench.

Including the ones that got there solely thx to AA.