Drug debacle in courts
2010-02-11
MEMBERS of the police and the legal fraternity are up in arms because prominent drug dealers are walking free out of the courts. According to a lawyer in Paarl, who wishes to remain anonymous, magistrates in the regional and district courts are at loggerheads with each other due to this situation. District Court Magistrates refuse to hear matters relating to drug dealers, as they are of the opinion that certain sections of the law do not give them the necessary jurisdiction to do so. But although their superiors such as the Chief Magistrate in Cape Town have advised District Magistrates that it is possible for them to hear evidence and pass stringent sentences in these matters, magistrates still refuse to do so. Instead they refer these cases to the Regional Court, where here too magistrates refuse to fill up their already backlogged case loads, maintaining that the District Court Magistrates can settle these matters. An example of this blatant refusal to see justice done, a magistrate recently refused to hear the case of three prominent drug dealers who were found with drugs worth R96 000 in their possession. The accused were prepared to plead guilty, but the magistrate instead transferred the matter to the Regional Court and the matter has now been postponed And on 27 January, when an accused wanted to plead guilty after having been arrested with 96 kilograms of dagga in his possession, the District Magistrate again instructed that the case be transferred to the Regional Court. These cases are often struck from the roll and drug dealers are then free to get back to business. A police detective who has through the years been involved in drug related matters, said that these court actions are disillusioning police officers. “We have a huge drug problem in and around Paarl. “The police are often blamed for the fact that drug dealers are never brought to justice. “But when these matters do go to court, and we have sufficient evidence against the accused for a successful conviction, our hard work is fruitless because of magistrates’ reluctance to take on these cases “When we see these criminals walk free, it makes us feel very despondent.” At the time of going to print, the Chief Magistrate in Cape Town had not commented on this debacle.
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