Over the past three months, 92 cases have been struck off the court roll due to Western Cape SAPS inefficiencies. With 66 of the cases related to domestic violence, femicide or gender-based violence (GBV). This was according to Albert Fritz, Western Cape Minister for Community Safety, who released a report by the provincial Court Watching Brief (CWB) unit on Wednesday.

During a press briefing on Wednesday, Fritz said the Court Watching Brief (CWB) which aims to hold Western Cape SAPS accountable has reviewed 11 priority areas across the Cape Flats.

• Bishop Lavos
• Delft
• Gugulethu
• Harare
• Khayelitsha
• Kraaifontein
• Mflueni
• Mitchells Plain
• Nyanga
• Philippi
• Philippi East
• Ravensmead

The unit was started to monitor the progress of cases by visiting courts in the province as well as police conduct and effectiveness. It then notes certain cases removed from the court roll due to police inefficiencies to ensure that the cases are collated sufficiently for it to return to court.

Fifty-two cases were as a result of dockets being missing and 40 have simply not been completed. Fritz added the hefty amount speaks to deeply imbedded corruption within the policing fraternity.

“Dockets are disappearing in different police stations. Cases are just disappearing off the roll … We are not talking about five cases here, we are talking about 92 cases in such a short period. This number speaks to institutional corruption,” said Fritz.

Fritz said in one of the many femicide cases heard at the Mitchells Plain Magistrates Court, in which the accused was charged with contravening a protection order, the matter was postponed at least five times. Eventually, the case was struck off the roll because the docket was outstanding.

“We have a big issue with protection orders in this province and the whole purpose of the CWB is to ensure that our women do not need to feel as if they are not being protected. We need to ensure that cases are heard so convictions can be made,” continued Fritz.

Fritz said moving forward he has given the provincial commissioner until the end of the year to ensure the cases are re-represented competently in court.

“My department has written to the provincial commissioner, Lieutenant General Yolisa Matakata, requesting comments on the cases which were removed from the court roll. The report will be submitted, with comments from the commissioner, if provided, to the provincial standing committee on community safety by no later than 30 December 2020,” ended Fritz.

VOC