Human Rights Office, Projects and Progress

Court Visits

PAHRO arranges trips to Wynberg Magistrates Court when possible to give volunteers an insight into the workings of a court and a chance to watch some real cases. Please read about Lily Van Den Broecke’s court experience below:

Thursday 17th February 2011

This morning, five human rights interns went to Wynberg Magistrate’s Court to get a taste of legal proceedings in action. We were kindly welcomed by Advocate Deon Ruiters of the National Prosecuting Authority who gave a short yet concise overview of the laws governing South Africa. He went into particular detail about bail applications, the process of dealing with young offenders, sexual offences and information on the Trial Courts.

We had a chance to visit The Bail Court in which we saw a 19 year old boy be sentenced to ten years for rape. This was the boy’s second appearance in court, both with accusations of rape. For second convictions it is normal for the accused to receive fifteen years. However in this case his sentence was shortened due to personal situation and the involvement of alcohol.

Next we went to the Juvenile Court where all the cases we saw were postponed for reasons such as the court not having received vital information concerning the chemical composition of presumed drugs found on the accused. Without such evidence, court cannot proceed. It was a real eye opener to the lack of glamour that one might expect from the judicial system. Each trial is a long process with many of these cases being postponed for more than a month.

Our final visit was to the Regional Courts which traditionally deal with serious cases including rape, sexual assault, murder and armed robbery to name a few. Here, three men were faced with charges of kidnap. We saw a policeman give evidence which was then translated into two other languages for the benefit of the accused. The translators were particularly challenged when the Judge became irate at the unwillingness of one of the accused to acknowledge his submitted statement as true. After a few minutes of the translator having to push the message home to him, the accused finally understood the cause of the Judge’s frustration (that denying what he said as true would completely remove the bricks that built the case) and was able to agree that yes, his statement was in his own words and true.

We were fortunate enough to meet a female High Court Judge who was hospitable to us all, offering advice on how to live safely and enjoy what there is to offer in Cape Town. She was inspirational and we are hoping to meet her again in the future.

Our trip to Wynberg benefitted us all, even those with no legal experience whatsoever. It was interesting to see the workings of the courts and how there is a lot more to consider when trying to reach a verdict of guilty or not guilty. In fact to sum up in the words of the female High Court Judge Brahmi Padayachi, “First we say ‘Why?’ and then we say ‘Why Not?’”.

Lily Van Den Broecke, UK