Update on Thembekile Molaudzi: wrongfully-convicted man tells his story to the media

Article that was published in Pretoria News in June 30.

We are sure you’ve seen or heard at least one of the many tweets, Facebook posts, radio interviews or articles that have resulted from our coverage of the story of Thembekile Molaudzi: a man recently freed after 11 years’ imprisonment, for a crime he did not commit.

Thembekile and Carolyn Raphaely, our journalist who has investigated and followed Thembekile’s case for more than 3 years, have been on a media whirlwind in the last ten days. We’ve collated most of the output here, in case you’ve missed any.

We particularly encourage you to click on the links to one of the radio podcasts as they are all in-depth interviews, which give you a chance to hear Thembekile tell his own story:

• Innocent man’s long walk to freedom – The Star
• For Thembekile Molaudzi, justice delayed was justice denied – Daily Maverick. Also appeared in AllAfrica
• Wrongful Arrest: 11 Agonising Years Behind Bars – EWN
• Wrongfully Arrested Man Opens Up About 11-year Imprisonment – EWN
• Man Finally free after 11 years of wrongful imprisonment – North Eastern Tribune
• Onskuldige Pta-man vry na 11 jaar agter tralies – Nuusneus
• My Fight for Freedom (Part I & Part II) – You Magazine 

 

	Station and Host	Podcast/ insert Link
Radio	Radio 786 –Interview with  Hassen Sera	Listen to podcast here
Radio	Radio 702 – Redi Thlabi	Read article and listen to podcast here
Radio	Cliff CentralHost Gary Herzberg, on “Laws of Life”	Listen to podcast here
Radio	Kaya FM – Today with  John Perlman	Listen to podcast here
Radio	Power FM – Power Life with Masechaba Lekalake	Listen to podcast here
TV	ENCA – Thulasizwe Simelane	Watch news insert and feature here
TV	SABC CUTTING EDGE	Airdate to be confirmed, possibly 21 July

Support our work: http://www.witsfoundation.co.za/givejustice.asp

 

10 Things to know about the Police Brutality Legal Clinic

1. The Police Brutality Legal Clinic is run by ProBono.Org, an NGO which works with private legal practitioners to provide pro-bono legal services to those who can’t afford to pay for these resources themselves.
2. Global law firm Hogan Lovells partnered with ProBono.Org to start the Police Brutality Legal Clinic in 2011.
3. The clinic offers free consultation services with attorneys who evaluate the merits (evidence) of a case and provide preliminary advice on issues such as prescription, compliance and jurisdiction and then decide if a case is worth pursuing.
4. The clinic operates on the first and third Tuesday of every month from the Probono.Org offices, by appointment only. Find address and contact details here.
5. The clinic handles cases of police brutality, unlawful arrest and unlawful detention by the South Africa Police Services (SAPS) and the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD).
6. The clinic has seen more than 240 clients since 2011.
7. In recent years, the clinic’s case load has increased significantly. According to Candice Pillay, head of Hogan Lovells pro bono department, this is because the public is becoming aware of their rights in relation to what police officers can and cannot do.
8. The clinic also provides advocates to clients on a pro bono basis, once litigation commences.
9. Civil cases against SAPS and JMPD are brought against the Minister of Police or the City of Johannesburg, not against individual officers.
10. The clinic is currently litigating 20 cases – including pending High Court cases relating to unlawful detention.

For appointments please contact Pro-Bono.Org on 011 339-6080.

Beyond Good Cop/Bad Cop: Future-proofing South Africa’s police service

Are South Africans getting the police that they deserve? This was at the heart of the discussions held at a round table yesterday, looking at building a police service in line with the country’s driving-development strategy, the National Development Plan.

On 1^st April, the Wits Justice Project, together with Wits Public Safety Programme at the Wits School of Governance, hosted “Beyond Good Cop/Bad Cop: Future-proofing South Africa’s police service,” the first installment in the “Justice for Breakfast Round table” discussion series for 2015.

The Justice for Breakfast series aims to foster open, face-to-face interactions in confidential environment, in an effort to understand some of the key challenges in the criminal justice system as well as finding possible solutions to those issues. In attendance yesterday were representatives from various organizations, including Amnesty International, the Helen Suzman Foundation, the RAITH foundation, local and national government departments, the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services, the South Africa Human Rights Commission and Institute for Security Studies (ISS), delegates from the Swiss Embassy and the European Union.

Participants having breakfast while at Justice for Breakfast round table discussions.

This discussion focused on the future of South African Police Services’ (SAPS) training and ability to police in the communities that they serve – in light of Vision 2030. The National Development Plan (NDP) offers a long-term perspective to government’s plan. It defines a desired target and identifies the role different sectors of society need to play in reaching that goal. Outcomes three of the NDP states with the objective of all South Africans being and feeling safe: and provides for detailed areas of work and responsibilities, which falls in the mandate set out for SAPS in the NDP.

Col. Dale Hynd from SAPS’ Human Resources Directorate kicked off the discussion by giving an overview of the Basic Training Programme for all new recruits. The training is being revised to be in line with the NDP and to professionalise the police services, enabling officers to help maintain safe communities.

Col. Hynd reminded the participants that the reality for SAPS officers is that they work in a violent society. Police training, therefore, has to take into account how to react in a dangerous situation. Although officers are given training on Constitutional and ethical principles, being able to apply these principles when facing life-threatening or violent circumstances is sometimes very difficult.

Police have to complete six modules of the Basic Training Programme which include the following modules:

• Orientation to SAPS
• Law
• Community Service Centre
• Crime Investigation
• Crime Prevention
• Street Survival

A proportion of the training time is spent at the police academy and some time in real-life training at police stations. After the training is completed, the trainees complete integrated assessment tests before they are deemed to be qualified.

Col. Hynd said that the SAPS is currently engaging with stakeholders in its review process, asking for input into what its training programme should contain.

Catherine Moat (Head: Public Safety Programme at Wits School of Governance) and Nooshin Erfani-Ghadimi (Project Coordinator at Wits Justice Project) welcomed those in attendance and introduced the first series of Justice for Breakfast 2015.

Some attendees observed that SAPS should carry out meaningful background checks on new recruits; find ways to ensure that new recruits are not picking up bad practices from the station component of their training; and to remove officers who are not fit.

Others inquired as to whether cyber security was being tackled by SAPS; whether militarization was heading into the wrong direction; and whether SAPS was being used to target the poor. Everyone agreed that community trust was an issue.

In terms of the working conditions of officers, discussions centered on the psychological and emotional stress that police officers face, both from within the SAPS and from hostile communities where they work. Participants agreed that officers should feel supported in carrying out their tasks and that both individuals and communities bear a responsibility for ensuring that this is so.

One participant raised the point that civil society needs to work on preparing safe communities – and not expecting the SAPS to prevent crime on its own. SAPS cannot be expected to fix social problems such as violence, domestic violence, or corruption, as these would have to be dealt with through education, healthcare, and social welfare.

Another discussant said that each individual bears the responsibility of obeying laws and upholding the rule of law, especially through not offering bribes.

Previous Justice for Breakfasts 

Justice for Breakfast: Reflections on the complexities of policing in South Africa today

Justice for Breakfast Round table Discussions

Anthology of the Justice for Breakfast Round table Debates 2012 and 2013

Read more about policing in previous articles by the Wits Justice Project (WJP):

The state of policing in South Africa (info-graphics), May 24, 2013

Articles from Sophiatown team investigation in 2014 

Drug dealers, corrupt cops and the one man who cares

The police also live here…

‘Justice’ is neither swift nor just for Prisoner A

PRISONER A, a paraplegic awaiting-trial detainee. (Photo: supplied)

(Click here to see this article as it appeared in Business Day, 1 March 2013)

ANTON HARBER

WE CAN pontificate about whether Oscar Pistorius gets special treatment in our courts, or whether his access to wealth and influence gets him a better quality of justice. Or we can listen to the story of another disabled accused, Prisoner A, a real person whose identity I have to protect because he is at the mercy of the same justice system as Pistorius.

Prisoner A has been in custody awaiting trial for more than two years. He is charged with fraud, a nonviolent crime, and should have got bail. His co-accused are out on bail. But he never applied because he did not have the money.

He is a paraplegic, injured in a shooting accident some years ago. He does not have a wheelchair in prison. He has crutches, but has to throw each leg forward with his arms. He cannot control his bladder, so he has to wear a nappy. He eats only once a day because he cannot get to the kitchen and other prisoners are forbidden from bringing him his food. He shares a cell designed for 32 people with 87 others, 12 sleeping on two double bunks pushed together, others sleeping on foam on the floor, including in the communal toilet area. Because of his condition, he has his own single bed.

The cell is a breeding ground for further medical problems. There are eight to 10 men in it with tuberculosis (TB) and one who has multidrug-resistant TB sleeping on the bunk above him.

Because he is in prison and unable to present himself for examination, his disability grant — which paid for his seven-year-old daughter’s schooling — has stopped. The prison social worker will not help him get it renewed because he is awaiting trial — it is only done for sentenced prisoners.

There is no permanent doctor in his prison and a converted cell with single beds serves as the sick room. The last time he needed medical attention, it took a week to get it. And even if a doctor prescribes medicine, he can seldom get it because it just isn’t available.

His wife visited him last week, the first time since 2011 because the prison is far from his home and it cost her R1,500 for transport. She brought food, nappies and medicine. She was only allowed to give him the nappies and when he complained, the visit was cut to just three minutes.

“I’m in constant pain. Sleep is the only escape. I’ve only seen a doctor here once, in September last year, and he prescribed medical shoes for me. I’m still waiting,” he says. Prisoner A was found and interviewed by Carolyn Raphaely of the Wits Justice Project, which investigates, reports on and campaigns for improvements in our justice system, particularly the conditions of awaiting-trial detainees. There are 46,000 of them, living in grossly overcrowded conditions, often worse than those of prisoners found guilty and already serving their sentences.”

When I heard Prisoner A’s story, I thought the media would grab it as a sidebar to the Pistorius case. It presented a rare chance to highlight the conditions and treatment of awaiting-trial prisoners. It was a pity we could not name him or the prison he was in, but he was nervous that the prison authorities would punish him for telling his story. But there was no doubting the authenticity of his story.

We offered Prisoner A’s tale, told in his own voice, to a daily newspaper. They did not have the space. We offered it to a major Sunday paper, and they were not interested. The Saturday Star ran it and, although they buried it far inside the paper, the WJP has had a number of offers of help for Prisoner A as a result.

I don’t want to beat around the bush. The courts should have given Prisoner A bail of R1 and the magistrate or prosecutor should have paid it and got him out. The Department of Correctional Services should have been given the power to give him medical parole and this is a case where it should be used. The doctors who visited the prison should have acted, as should the social workers.

Pistorius’s spin doctors should take on this case and Pistorius, or his friend and former prisoner, Kenny Kunene, should pay. Prisoner A needs it more than Pistorius does.

The media should cover it the way they covered Pistorius: endlessly, relentlessly and exhaustively. Throw out the ponderous pieces on the quality of Pistorius’s justice and take up Prisoner A’s case, which says everything we need to say about our justice system. Then there might be hope for justice for those who do not have the same resources, support and attention of someone such as Pistorius.

• Harber is Caxton Professor of Journalism at Wits University. The WJP operates from his department.

Bringing the law to the people: The role of community paralegals in our country

Community paralegals have assisted many people in Sierra Leone. (Photo: Timap for Justice)

By Thandeka Kathi, Legal Intern at the Wits Justice Project

The marginalized people in society rarely have access to justice because they face many impediments, such as lack of knowledge of the law. When they do know their rights, they cannot afford the services of a lawyer. When lawyers are available pro bono they are usually out of reach, because their offices are based in the cities.

This is a flaw in our legal system. On one hand we have a legal system which boasts one of the best constitutions in the world. But on the other hand we have people who do not have access to legal remedies.

This is where community-based paralegals can help, especially in rural settings.

I recently attended a Justice for Breakfast event on the role of community-based paralegals, held by the Wits Justice Project and the Wits Graduate School for Public and Development Management. Before this event, I did not know that this branch of paralegals existed. I thought that paralegals worked in law firms and banks to help attorneys with legal research and so forth.

I learned that there is no agreed-upon definition of what a community-based paralegal is. According to the World Bank “Definitions vary, but roughly a community-based paralegal is a person trained in law and the workings of government who employs tools like education, mediation, advocacy, and organizing to address instances of injustice”.  Therefore, a community-based paralegal is more than a legal assistant. At the roundtable there was much debate as to whether a common definition of the term “community paralegal” is needed or if we leave it as it is because a broad definition gives the community access to individuals who possess a variety of skills.

While I acknowledge the importance of community-based paralegals and the positive impact they have, especially in rural communities, I am also concerned about the negative impact they might have.

The law is a complicated machine that has to be operated with the utmost care. I am fearful that people who have not received training in the law can give legal advice. My concerns were echoed by Ruby Matthys, who represented the Association of Regional Magistrates of Southern Africa. She warned that the community is vulnerable to people who may not be qualified to give legal advice and who are not held accountable for the advice that they give.

The regulation of paralegals is essential to ensure that the community is protected. The second draft of the Legal Practice Bill does not include the regulation of paralegals. The Law Society of South Africa, in its submissions about the Legal Practice Bill lists the exclusion of community-based paralegals from the Bill as positive. I do not understand why this is viewed as positive because leaving community-based paralegals unregulated makes communities vulnerable to unqualified people posing as community-based paralegals.

In my opinion, community-based paralegals should be regulated because they play a vital role in bringing justice to the people. In the words of one roundtable participant, “Community-based paralegals can be traced to the 1980s. They are resilient and are not going anywhere”. Therefore they should be regulated like all other professions.