(1)With reference to the complaint of Mrs Léanca Louw against Mr Nicolaas Wilhelm Herbst (CAS 25/4/2022 Primrose Police Station) and the latter’s countercharge (CAS 43/4/2022 Germiston Police Station), (a) what are the reasons that the State Prosecutor in the case did not proceed on the charges brought by Mrs Louw and (b) how did the countercharges proceed to trial before the investigations into the main charges were finalised;
(2) whether, after Senior State Prosecutors received a complete docket and apparently realised that there was potential tampering with the docket, it requested an investigation into the matter; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(3) once the Senior State Prosecutor was given the full facts, what are the reasons that the (a) trial proceeded knowing that there was a material dispute of fact and (b) Senior State Prosecutor attempted to mediate the matter on behalf of the suspect on the countercharge;
(4) what are the reasons that the Office of the State Prosecutor failed for a year to respond to correspondence from the attorney of Mrs Louw;
(5) whether he will make a statement on the matter?
This question involves sensitive information that, in the interests of protecting the integrity and confidentiality of the parties in question, the NPA is willing to make available to Ms Louw’s legal representatives to disclose further (as he or she deems fit). Where this is the case, it has been expressly indicated. With the above in mind, below are the replies to the questions:
1. ...
Whether, with reference to his reply to question 3629 on 28 October 2022, in which he indicated that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) does not keep data on criminal offences committed against children specifically, his department has since instructed the NPA to commence with record keeping of (a) child-specific criminal cases as well as (b) the conviction rate for (i) child murders, (ii) attempted child murder, (iii) assault of a child with the intent to do grievous bodily harm and (iv) sexual offences against children; if not, why not; if so, what has been the total number of successful convictions in the above categories for the SA Crime Statistic quarterly reporting periods of (aa) 1 October 2022 to 31 December 2022, (bb) 1 January 2023 to 31 March 2023 and (cc) 1 April to 30 June 2023?
A similar request was received by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in 2022 and which response is attached hereto. Since the NPA were not keeping the data, engagements and the feasibility of obtaining the important information has been undertaken.
The NPA has arranged with the South African Police Service (SAPS) in the interim to share information with the NPA from SAPS in order to ...
Whether he will furnish Prof C.T Msimang with the figures for the total (a) recorded number of prisoners in correctional facilities in each province and (b) number of beds (i) in correctional facilities and (ii) available as at the latest specified date for which information is available; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
It should be noted that Department of Correctional Services (DCS) is demarcated into Six Regions and not aligned to the provincial dispensation.
a) Total number of inmates in correctional facilities in each region as on 19 October 2023:
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Region
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Unsentenced Inmates
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Sentenced Offenders
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Total Inmates
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Eastern Cape
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6 889
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13 944
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20 833
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Free State & Northern Cape
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6 408
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14 094
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20 ... |
(1) What total amount of Government funds have been spent on court proceedings for illegal immigrants, including translators, in the past financial year;
(2) what total number of illegal immigrants have been granted bail and (b) number who have been granted bail did not further attend court proceedings in the past financial year?
1.The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DoJ &CD) does not keep separate expenditure trends of the illegal immigrants appearing in our courts. The DoJ&CD does keep Expenditure trends of Foreign Nationals appearing in our courts since we supply and pay for Foreign Interpreter Language Services for the foreign national accused persons.
2. The department does not keep specific statistics on illegal immigrants appearing ...
(1) Whether, with reference to section 199(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (details furnished), section 334 of the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA), Act 51 of 1977 (details furnished), and Government Notice No 1114 of 19 October 2018 in particular, which provides for the appointment of law enforcement officers appointed by municipalities as peace officers in terms of section 334 of the CPA, municipalities may rely on any other legislation to create law enforcement officers for appointment by municipalities; if not, what (a) is the definition of law enforcement officers as defined by his department and (b) provisions do they rely upon to hold an office that has been declared for peace officers in terms of section 334 of the CPA; if so, what legislation;
(2) whether any municipality may rely on any national legislation to establish a security service known as law enforcement officers for appointment by municipalities; if not, (a) what is the definition upon which the municipality relies to declare them peace officers, by virtue of their office as law enforcement officers appointed by municipalities in the specified Government Notice in terms of the CPA, (b) under what authority did the previous Minister of Justice and Correctional Services act to extend peace officer powers to such persons and (c) does he intend to rescind the relevant Government Notice;
(a) A municipality is empowered to establish a municipal police service in terms of Chapter 12 of the SAPS Act.
(b) The expression law enforcement officer must be interpreted in the confines of section 334 of the CPA and other applicable legislation, for instance, the SAPS Act, the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, and the National Road Traffic Act, 1996 (Act ...
In light of the fact that the Potchefstroom Magistrates Court has been unusable for well over a year, after the roof collapsed and portions of the building were condemned and noting that the court is meant to serve not only Potchefstroom, but also all surrounding areas and the Circuit Court (details furnished), what has he precisely done to (a) ensure that the sorry state of affairs is attended to and (b) expedite the obviously essential repairs?
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OBJECTIVE
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ACTIVITIES
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TARGET DATE
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PROGRESS (Daily)
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Interim Court sittings arrangements
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Daily court sittings
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ongoing
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There are Daily Court sitting
Court clerks are preparing the court rolls daily, and supplied to the
01. Town Hall (JB Marks) 2 halls converted to 2 court rooms
:District and Regional Court sitting no in-custody inmates )
02. Ikageng Court
: Criminal District and Family, ... |
Whether, considering that rhino poaching has been declared a national priority crime, he shares a joint corresponding database with the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment and the Minister of Police, of all rhino poachers (a) who have been arrested and (b) details regarding the (i) trial and custody status, (ii) convictions, (iii) prison status and (iv) the associates of each person in order to understand the linkages and/or networks; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
(a) There is currently no database that is shared among the Ministers. The National Integrated Strategy to Combat Wildlife Trafficking (NISCWT) recently adopted by Cabinet requires law enforcement agencies to nationally consolidate all forms of wildlife compliance and enforcement efforts, which would enhance the sharing of the information, cases enrolled and identification of linkages, networks, and associations.
Various stakeholder forums have been established between ...
(1)With reference to the old Somerset West Police Station located on Somerset West Main Road, which is currently used by the Department of Correctional Services, what (a) progress has been regarding filling and moving the files that are filling the ceiling space and (b) are the details of the relevant precautions that have been taken given that the building is a national monument;
1. (a) The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) is not able to dispose of any public records in its custody, be it records of deceased members or deceased offenders due to the moratorium on the destruction of records imposed by Cabinet as per Circular 02 of 1998 due to non-completion of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).
As a result, files and records are ...
In light of the fact that the Masters’ Offices around the country continue to be dysfunctional to a degree that is totally unacceptable, which all have ceased to function, with waiting time for essential documents now reaching months (details furnished), what are the (a) details of what he intends to do to turn the situation around and (b) timeframes thereof?
The Master’s Offices deals with not only deceased estates, but also bankruptcy matters, registration of Tests, Curatorships as well as the Guardian’s Fund.
Performance on all of the above is measured against targets set in terms of the Masters’ Annual Performance Plan.
The statement that all the Master’s Offices are dysfunctional and have ceased to function is wide as there are no specifics provided ...
(a) By which date will the amended proclamation be signed as the Special Investigating Unit has since amended the Fort Hare proclamation, following the court challenge by a certain person (details furnished) regarding the scope of the probe and (b) what are the relevant details in this regard?
a) The Special Investigating Unit submitted a motivation to amend the scope of Proclamation R.84 of 2022 to the Department of Justice and Correctional Services on 07 July 2023. The Department of Justice and Correctional Services is processing the motivation.
b) The motivation is in relation to allegations of maladministration in the affairs of Fort Hare University in the awarding of degrees.
END.
