Tiaan Strydom, Fanie Venter, his wife Mariè and Jeandre Visagie speaking about their ordeal during an armed robbery Picture: Masi Losi Tiaan Strydom, Fanie Venter, his wife Mariè and Jeandre Visagie speaking about their ordeal during an armed robbery Picture: Masi Losi
Pretoria - The “accidental” release of two hardened criminals by a Pretoria North prosecutor who apparently misunderstood an Afrikaans instruction has been described as “unacceptable and a miscarriage of justice” by the Law Society of South Africa.
While a Montana family lives in fear of the return of an AK-47 wielding gang who robbed them in 2011, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is sticking to its guns, saying it was an honest mistake which does not warrant disciplinary action against the prosecutor involved.
And while the two are at liberty, a warrant for their arrest cannot be issued as they did not escape from custody but were released by the court.
On Thursday, Fanie Venter and two of his son’s friends, who were due to testify in the case of Solly Mohlahlo and Morekgomo Stanley Phaahla, were given the “bad news” by the prosecutor that she had accidentally withdrawn the charges against the accused and they had been released. The prosecutor said she had misunderstood an instruction, in Afrikaans, from the control prosecutor to withdraw charges in an unrelated case.
Mohlahlo and Phaahla had been awaiting trial prisoners since their arrest in 2011. They were denied bail because both had prior convictions, including for murder and hijacking.
Law Society chairman Johann Gresse said if the NPA was of the opinion that it was an honest human mistake that didn’t warrant any disciplinary action, it was indeed a sad day for the state of the legal profession. Gresse said one would have expected that at the very least the prosecutor would have consulted either the senior prosecutor who gave the instruction, or one of her colleagues versed in Afrikaans had she not understood the instruction.
“Afrikaans is still one of the official languages commonly used in the legal profession, and if the prosecutor misunderstood what had been written, then she is evidently not suitable for the position she occupies.
“It is common practice in the NPA offices that a police docket is handed to a senior prosecutor for an instruction to be given, and it is then returned to the prosecutor who actually has to execute the instruction. Any experienced prosecutor would have realised that a charge for armed robbery would not easily be withdrawn by the senior prosecutor and she should have been alerted to the fact that she was dealing with a very serious offence before summarily withdrawing the charges,” Gresse said.
He added that he thought it advisable for the NPA to appropriately apologise to the victims of “this miscarriage of justice”.
Spokesman for the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development Mthunzi Mhaga said the department was disturbed by the incident. “I cannot comment on behalf of the NPA, but the department strongly advises that the two be re-arrested and the charges reinstated,” he said.
Venter said since the incident, public support has been overwhelming. The DA came to their rescue over the weekend by arranging a patrol vehicle to monitor the area.
“Although we were very anxious and alert, the patrol vehicle did make us feel a little safer,” he said.
In the meantime, Afriforum will go ahead to press charges against the prosecutor in question.
Venter says he has had no word from the court or the NPA.
Pretoria News
