The bail joke and the address..

I have not written on my blog for ages....despite wanting to. As such, I will have to build up my readership once again. So, here is the beginning of the new wave.....

I was looking for a story that was different, not the boring royal baby rubbish, nor Mr Corrupt  Jacob Zuma, nor his once little bother Julius Malema......but then I stumbled upon one I found amusing and well, a window into how our Magistrates think when releasing people on bail and this may also go a long way to explaining why so many who are out on bail, are re-arrested for new crimes.

To sum up the story. Gareth de Nysschen is the co-owner of Dave Sheer Guns. His claim to fame is his recent arrest at OR Tambo Airport, on his way OUT of the country...destination United States of America. Luckily, his co-accused, General manager of the Gun Shop, Efthimios Demis Karamitsos was there to bid a warm farewell to his boss, and he was snapped up by the police as well. Their crime..dealing in stolen military ammunition.

Other co-accused, soldiers accused of the stealing, we set free on bail..well except for one who had the brains to threaten the investigating officer's life. Oh yes, and Karamitsos is free.

So far, not so great.

But here is where it loses me. Magistrate Syfred Mati acknowledges that the State's case appeared to be strong, that the accused had numerous other police investigations against him, that de Nysschen was a man of means, who furnished false addresses. Further, he was aware of the state's request to deny bail alleging de Nysschen would flee the country, that his family could easily follow and that his wealth could be easily moved. Further claiming he could easily obtain false travel documents.

With all of the above in mind, the learned magistrate says "It would be idiocy of me to grant bail if I don't know where he lives."...further stating that if the State provided him with a proper address, he 'didn't feel it just to deny bail.'.

After all that has been presented to the Magistrate, in favour of keeping him locked up, he, in his infinite wisdom, chooses the address issue as his point of reference. The one factor that would decide bail.

My prediction..he will get bail and in years to come, South Africa will be fighting to get him back for his trial...if they find him that is.

Oh, and to add to this, another co-owner, David Sheer, was released on bail of R15 000,00....seriously. And here's the killer...he had to put up bonds of R2 Million because Mati considered him a flight risk. I kid you not.

This small peek into our justice system is one of too many that shows me that our judiciary does not have what it takes to fight the criminal's flood. They aid it. The leniency on the bail issue coupled with some really ridiculous low prison sentences are not what we need to fight the criminal element. We need people on the bench who can think, we need strong people who do not think of the criminal, but society, we need more maximum sentences.

Being soft on criminals is what is causing them to obtain more rights than the innocent and this tide needs to be turned!