‘Bulldog’ Nel takes on PE woman’s case
● Top advocate investigates alleged assault for stealing a box of matches
“Bulldog” prosecutor Gerrie Nel will represent a Port Elizabeth woman who alleges she was tied up with rope and assaulted by two men supermarket owners after they accused her of stealing a box of matches.
The former state advocate, who now leads AfriForum’s private prosecution unit, said Odette Kotze’s case had proven to be “one of the most preposterous examples of police ineptness and malfeasance” he had encountered of late.
Kotze, 57, had reported a case of kidnapping and assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm at the Humewood police station after she was allegedly detained against her will for more than two hours at a shop in Western Road, Central, in March.
When the police arrived at the scene, she was arrested but charged with assault instead of the alleged theft.
On the advice of a magistrate who had noticed her injuries when she later appeared in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court, Kotze opted to report a counter case against the men who had allegedly assaulted her.
However, to date, she has not received any feedback on her case.
The private prosecution unit’s head investigator, Andrew Leask, said they had investigated the woman’s allegations and were now trying, in vain, to get answers from the police on the progress of the matter.
Leask said if the National Prosecuting Authority opted not to prosecute her alleged perpetrators, they reserved the right to prosecute the men privately.
Nel said the police had ignored requests for feedback, presumably in hopes that the case would simply disappear.
“Kindly be informed that our pursuit of the perpetrators regarding the assault on our client will not be abandoned and neither will we allow it to wane,” Nel wrote in a formal letter of complaint to the office of the national police commissioner. Nel and Leask raised a series of issues about the way the police had handled the matter.
“In this case, the police not only failed to obtain the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of the incident, but also refused to give feedback to Kotze as the complainant in the case,” Leask said.
In his letter dated August 24, Nel said just recently President Cyril Ramaphosa and police minister Bheki Cele had pledged their commitment to highlight and focus on crimes against women and children.
“Unsurprisingly, the promised narrative is not followed through by the practical implementation thereof.
“Now, the only tenable inference is that the conduct of the members involved is condoned.”
Nel, who was behind the successful prosecution of Paralympian Oscar Pistorius, wants the alleged failure of police to secure CCTV footage and other evidence to be investigated, and for AfriForum to be informed of the outcome.
“We view this as a serious dereliction of duty and an aspect that may cause irreparable harm to our client’s matter.
“Police managers who condoned such conduct should be appropriately disciplined.”
Nel also raised concerns of an untoward relationship between the owners of the supermarket and members of the local SA Police Service.
“Rumour has it that the supermarket owners are untouchable because of certain police members undertaking ‘cashless spending’, which weakens them from carrying out police functions without fear or favour.
“The response by the Eastern Cape SAPS management is a clear indication of lip-service to the government’s stated objective to prioritise cases involving the vulnerable in our society,” he said.
Police spokesperson Captain Khaya Tonjeni did not respond to requests for comment.