Police inefficiencies have resulted in a staggering 283 cases in the Western Cape being struck off the court roll.
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This is according to the second- and third-quarter reports of the provincial police oversight and community safety’s Court Watching Briefs (CWB) unit. Of these cases, 84 were murder-related. These were monitored at 33 courts linked to 82 police stations across the province.
As per News24, the courts monitored in the northern suburbs of Cape Town include Bishop Lavis, Blue Downs, Bellville, Goodwood and Kuils River. Police stations linked to the cases included Kuilsriver, Brackenfell, Kraaifontein, Ravensmead, Mfuleni, Goodwood and Delft.
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Police stations in Kraaifontein, which had eight cases scrapped, and Kuils River (six) were among the top three list of stations with the highest number of incomplete investigations. Cases were also withdrawn due to the absence of dockets in court, outstanding forensic reports and witnesses not being subpoenaed.
The CWB further states that 77 of the cases are related to gender-based violence (GBV). Of these, 48 were withdrawn due to incomplete investigations, while 22 were withdrawn due to no dockets in court. The remaining 206 cases include murder, aggravated robbery, possession and dealing drugs, as well as the possession of firearms and ammunition.
Provincial police oversight and community safety MMC Reagen Allen says these statistics paint a grim picture.
‘More so, that these are real people who have been dismally failed by the entire criminal system. What is further alarming is that these are the cases that we have monitored, which would suggest that there could be many similar matters that are also being thrown out of court.’
‘Investigators work under immense strain and at times they each sit with well over 200 dockets. This failure does however not justify their inability to comply with their oath and fulfil their constitutional mandate.’
He adds that he would engage Lieutenant General Thembisile Patekile, the provincial police commissioner, to determine whether the investigating officers would be held accountable.
‘The department [has] made a number of recommendations based on these findings, one being that police develop an improvement plan to minimise these numbers.’
Reagen says he will also engage with the director of public prosecutions, advocate Nicolette Bell, to explore the ‘disconnect between the investigators and prosecutors.
‘Our people who are victims deserve better across the board, and we have to work towards eradicating these shortcomings.’
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