Illegal miners walk Questions over why cops failed to perform their duty
FREEDOM: Seven illegal miners, who were arrested for trespassing and malicious damage to property, yesterday walked out of the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court, after the charges against them were withdrawn. AFTER two weeks spent in custody, awaiting their bail application, trespassing charges against seven artisanal miners were withdrawn in the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court yesterday morning.
Upon their release, the accused – Ben Kwas, Victor Erasmus, Boeta van Wyk, Isaac Tshabadira, Mohale Hlajoe, Derrick Gouws and Kaibara Mohale – struggled to contain their excitement as they were reunited with family members and colleagues.
However, questions have now been raised about why, a fortnight after their arrest, police were still unable to provide confirmation of the suspects’ addresses.
Following their arrests on September 19, proceedings were postponed for a second time last Thursday in order to give police investigators additional time to collect basic evidence following a long weekend where no effort was made by the police to confirm certain information, including their residential addresses.
According to the investigating officer, Warrant Officer Hercul Mitchell, who had to be summoned to court by Magistrate Lance Roach, the relevant docket was delivered to the police’s offices after staff had already left for the Heritage Day weekend.
This document then went unattended and on Tuesday last week it was returned to the court in order to ensure prosecution within 48 hours. Mitchell stated that, because the docket was not in their possession, the police had been unable to verify the addresses of the accused and the matter was again postponed to yesterday.
However, since then nothing had been done to check the addresses.
The miners’ legal representative, Shan Davids, emphasised that her clients had a constitutional right to a speedy trial and were being kept in custody unfairly because police officers had failed to perform their duties.
While awaiting the release of their loved ones from custody, friends and family of the seven accused said that while yesterday’s ruling meant they were able to breath a sigh of relief, it also brought the grounds for their arrests and subsequent incarceration, into question.
“We are thrilled that they will be coming home,” they said. “These men are only trying to feed us, their families.”
“They are not murderers but breadwinners, and we are very happy that this case is over and they are free to go.”
When asked what had lead to the arrests of the seven on September 19, relatives said that they were still unsure, adding that the whole process had been a complete miscarriage of justice.
“They were not trespassing. They were only working to support their families in an area that is rightfully theirs to work.
“There was no reason for them to be arrested and even less for keeping them in jail for so long. Even the state agrees that the way they were treated was unacceptable, which is why they were released.”
Ben Kwas was visibly relieved as he walked out of the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court, saying that he could not wait to first spend some quality time with his family, before returning to his informal mining operation.
“It has been a very difficult two weeks,” he said moments before being reunited with his colleagues. “I cannot explain how good it feels to finally be released from custody after not knowing what was going to happen to us. Most of all, I’m just glad to be able to get away from the lice that made our time in prison almost unbearable.”
Chairman of the Kimberley Artisanal Mineworkers (KAMW), Lucky Seekoei, said that their members were pleased with the release of the seven, but wanted to know what action would be taken against members of the SAPS, whose failure to perform basic functions in their investigation had resulted in the accused staying in prison without a bail hearing.
Seekoei, and his co-accused, Tebogo Taku, are scheduled to return to court on October 16 to face charges of trespassing stemming from a violent altercation between KEM-JV security and illegal miners last month.