“I felt totally exposed, and alone. There was no support or protection whatsoever,” she says.

“Even when I was home at night, gang leaders would drive past my house, firing bullets through my windows. My children and me had to cower under our beds for protection. Half the time, the police never even bothered to respond to my calls. And when they did, they only arrived the following morning.”

She eventually gave her evidence in a courtroom packed with gangsters and their families.

Two gangsters were convicted, and sentenced to lengthy prison terms. But she had to go through hell to get there.

A two-month probe into the running of criminal courts in Cape Town and the Western Cape highlights the violence, intimidation and death threats witnesses face and the never-ending postponements, the dockets which are “lost”, the hundreds of cases which are thrown out and the general sense of hopelessness among witnesses. We interviewed dozens of magistrates, prosecutors, accused people and witnesses, most of whom for obvious reasons did not want to be named.

An Elsies River woman said when she had to testify earlier this year against her then boyfriend, accused of repeated domestic violence, “it was more terrifying than the attacks themselves”.

“As soon as I arrived at court, I was confronted outside by my boyfriend’s family. I was pushed around, punched and threatened with my life. There were police officers there who saw what was happening, but no one stepped in to help me,” she said.

But her ordeal had only just begun.

Sitting in the court corridor with her boyfriend’s relatives and friends all around her, “was an absolute nightmare”. She said she was constantly threatened and abused and told that if she did not refuse to testify, her house would be burnt down and her children harmed.

This went on for six months, as the case was postponed nine times.

When the case was finally called, she said she was too terrified and traumatised to testify. The matter, like hundreds of others across Cape Town, was thrown out, and the accused walked free.

“My life was made a misery, and I still live in fear every single day,” she said.

The National Prosecuting Authority offers “tips” for witnesses (see below). But most of these are meaningless without proper protection. In courtrooms across the city, witnesses recount stories of intimidation and harassment.

In many instances, they risk their lives in pursuit of justice, yet the justice system seems to have abandoned them, leaving them vulnerable to a system in which injustice all too often prevails.

A prosecutor at Bellville Magistrates’ Court says accused people receive “far more protection and understanding” than the victims of their crimes.

“We cannot continue like this,” he says. “The system needs to protect victims, and create a safe environment for them to testify against people accused of serious crimes. As things stand, victims are the people who suffer, and accused criminals laugh in their faces.”

A leading Cape Town criminal attorney agrees. “Witnesses are the most hard-done-by people in the criminal justice system. They are putting their lives on the line to obtain justice for all, while they themselves are the victims of blatant injustice,” she says.

She says calls for changes to the court system to recognise and protect the key role that witnesses play in the delivery of justice are constantly ignored.

“Witnesses are doing their civic duty. In many instances, they are putting themselves in grave danger. We need to find a way to protect them and enable them to deliver evidence in criminal cases without fear. Instead, criminals are the ones who are protected, and innocent witnesses are left to their own devices,” she says.

“We need special, secure areas for witnesses to sit while waiting to be called to give evidence. We cannot have a situation where witnesses share corridor benches with the people they are accusing.”

Witnesses should also be given protection on their way to and from court, she says.

“It is absurd that we should expect witnesses – many of whom are themselves victims in the cases concerned – to find their own way to and from court, unprotected. In what way is that justice? These people are at the heart of our justice system. Without them, we have no justice system.”

She also calls for increased security systems at courts.

“So many courts do not even have functioning metal (firearm) detectors at the entrance. People can walk in and out as they please.

“We need to understand that courts, by their very nature, are packed with accused – often hardened criminals. Why are we not protecting the brave witnesses prepared to give evidence against them?”

Advice for witnesses

The NPA provides the “Witness Tips” below.

But most of these are meaningless without proper protection.

Write down the names of the police officers in charge of your case, the name of the State Prosecutor, dates you had meetings and other important info you may want to remember as you go through the court process.
Keep all your court documents in an envelope in a safe place. Talk about your feelings with someone you trust. (You should only talk about your feelings and not about the evidence).
Talk to the advocate / prosecutor or the police officer about testifying in court. (Doing something new like going to court may feel scary. If you are fearful about going to court, it is important to talk about your feelings.)
If someone is making you afraid to go to court by saying or doing something like following you, making threatening phone calls or threatening signals, it is important to tell the police officer right away.
Talk to the advocate / prosecutor about the help that can be arranged for witnesses under the age of 18.
Tell the investigating officer / advocate / prosecutor if you move, go to a different school, or get a new phone number.
Visit the courtroom before you testify. (You can be shown inside the courtroom and also receive some information about the court rules and role-players.)
Tell the advocate / prosecutor if you are pregnant or have any special needs due to a disability, or an illness such as asthma, diabetes, or epilepsy.
Tell the investigating officer if you need transport or a place to stay to attend court far from where you live.
Ask the advocate / prosecutor or the police officer where to meet them to review your information before going into the court.
If you have a job, your employer must give you the time off to attend court.

David Capel is a freelance journalist. This is the first in a short series on the running of district criminal courts in Cape Town.

Republished with permission from GroundUp. The original article can be found here.

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The incident is the latest in a growing trend of violence at judicial facilities, with similar incidents occurred this year at the Mitchells Plain and Wynberg Magistrates Courts in the province, and another incident at Melmoth Court in KwaZulu-Natal.

“As the judiciary and the executive, we are united in the struggle to ensure that our courts are places of safety where people can come…to exercise their Constitutional rights.

“We are at work. There are things that we can and are doing immediately. We don’t have to wait to work smarter to ensure that the police are here in greater numbers. We don’t have to wait to make use of technology to make use of remand hearings through video to obviate the need for prisoners to be transported from prison to court.

“I have committed that we will coordinate a meeting with the Minister of Police in this week…to ensure that we strengthen the ties between justice, the judiciary and the police and other departments like Public Works that are responsible for the infrastructure of our courts,” he said.

Western Cape Judge President, Nolwazi Mabindla-Boqwana echoed the deputy minister’s sentiments – calling for strengthened collaboration in fighting back against the “scourge”.

“It is too frequent, and it was important for us to come here with the deputy minister to show the community that we care, and we are doing something about the safety of the courts.

“The attacks against the court precinct are attacks and contempt against our democracy. They are attacks against the administration of justice. So, it is important for us to work together collaboratively and have an integrated plan to how we can work against a scourge.

“Our people should not be afraid to come to court. Our people should not be afraid to come to work. They should feel safe around the courts. It is time for us to say no,” Mabindla-Boqwana said.

Meanwhile, Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development Chairperson, Xola Nqola, noted the incident with “grave concern”.

“These incidents seem to be on the increase, especially in the Western Cape. The authorities need to re-look at the security measures currently used to secure our court precincts. We need to ensure the safety of officials, presiding officers and the public at large.

“The committee would like to express its deepest condolences to the family and friends of the deceased. We further call on the public to assist authorities in making our communities safe again, by speaking out against criminal activities,” Nqola said.

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