Pretoria News: Long arm of the law reaches Nqakula

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?art_id=vn20070830041014303C110679

Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula on Wednesday felt the wrath of the law when he was found to be in contempt of a court order and committed to jail.

Not only was his department scolded, but the judge held him personally responsible for not complying with a court order issued last week.

In terms of the order, police were given 12 hours to rebuild the shacks of homeless people in Moreletapark.

Eight days later the homeless people, including women and children, are still destitute.

Pretoria High Court judge Bill Prinsloo ordered Nqakula should be committed to jail “with immediate effect, until such time as this contempt of the order is purged”. A fine of R10 000 was also imposed on him.

Prinsloo further ruled that a writ be issued, authorising and directing the officer commanding of Pretoria Central police station (or any person he may direct) to immediately arrest Nqakula and to commit him to jail.

The judge ordered the fine and imprisonment be suspended for 14 days from the date of his order, at which time Nqakula is “required to appear personally before this court” to show that he had complied fully with the order. Failing to do so, the minister will immediately be arrested and jailed.

Prinsloo, meanwhile, ordered that, within 12 hours of yesterday’s order, Nqakula had to see to it that the shacks were rebuilt. This gave the police until 1am this morning.

The judge further ordered that “because the respondent (Nqakula) is not present at the hearing today”, the order must be immediately served on him. The final nail in the coffin was a punitive costs order against the minister’s department.

The judge’s fury was sparked by an urgent application brought on behalf of the homeless people staying on vacant land on the corner of De Ville Bois Marquis and Garsfontein roads.

Their shacks were burnt down earlier this month and many of them claimed they were beaten up by police.

A week ago the court ordered the police to within 12 hours rebuild the shacks.

Judge Roger Claassen was at the time told that it was not the first time that police had gutted the belongings of these people and harassed them.

Earlier this year the Supreme Court of Appeal pronounced on the same issue (when their shacks were burnt down on a previous occasion).

The SCA at the time ordered the police to immediately rebuild the dwellings. Police at first denied they were responsible, but later admitted it.

In the current case the police once again denied they were involved and ignored the order to rebuild.

Counsel for the minister on Wednesday said it was not necessary to comply as the minister was going to ask for leave to appeal the order.

The court was on Wednesday told by Matthews Mojapelo, acting for the minister, that no affidavit of the minister was before court, as “his officials do not know where he is and whether he is in the country or not”.

The judge was told that it was impossible for the minister to rebuild the shacks within 12 hours, as the deadline would have been four o’clock in the morning “when everyone was asleep”.

Adriaan Vorster, acting for the homeless, argued that if the police could burn down the shacks at 4am, they could surely rebuild it at 4am.

Vorster asked the court to hold the minister in contempt and to order that the shacks be rebuilt, in spite of the pending application for leave to appeal. Prinsloo said it took no imagination to understand the plight of the applicants who were at present destitute and exposed to the elements.

He said not only did the minister not comply with the order within 12 hours, but more than a week later he had still not complied.

The judge said the minister gave no explanation about this to the court. He added that he found the minister’s intention to ask for leave to appeal “distressing”.

The judge further said: “I find the explanation that the minister’s officials do not know where he is, outrageous to say the least.”

Regarding the minister’s objection that if they complied, they would have to build the shacks at 4am, Prinsloo said: “I can’t see how they could be excused from complying with a court order because they would have to do it after hours… particularly a state department as large as that of the respondent (minister). Especially as the police had time to demolish the shacks at four in the morning.”

Prinsloo said the case was a “sad testimony” to the fact that some State departments did not seem to bother to adhere to the orders of court.

Late on Wednesday night Nqakula’s lawyers gave notice of their intention to appeal the sentence.

o This article was originally published on page 1 of Pretoria News on August 30, 2007