State slammed for not executing warrants of arrests

JOBURG – Magistrate tells the state it must put its money where its mouth is. She said saying warrants are issued is not enough, they must be executed.

The case against six men accused of being part of syndicate conducting robberies at malls across the province was postponed at the Randburg Magistrates' Court.

Magistrate Gayle Pretorious gave the state a tongue lashing for not executing warrants of arrests that the state claimed to have in its possession. On 27 June, six men accused of being part of a syndicate that have been conducting robberies in Gauteng appeared before Pretorious in the Randburg Magistrates’ Court.

The six were arrested in September last year, on allegations that they had plotted to rob a cell phone store at Fourways Mall. The six were arrested together with three police officers, stationed at Douglasdale Police Station. The state has since withdrawn the case against the three police officers.

The six have been charged with conspiracy to commit a robbery with aggravating circumstances, possession of unlicensed firearms and possession of prohibited firearms
At their previous appearance, the state told the court that it had in its possession, warrants of arrests against some of the accused persons. Defence attorney Idemudi Uriesi told the state that he wanted to see the original copies of those warrants. At the time, state prosecutor Yusuf Baba only had them on a soft copy as they were emailed to him by the investigating officer. An agreement was made that the originals will be handed to the defence, but that has not happened.

Pretorious asked the state why it had not executed the warrants that it said it had against the accused persons. The magistrate told the state that a warrant of arrest was a crucial document that cannot be left lying around, it must be executed.

“Issuing a warrant is not enough. You must put your money where your mouth is. Execute those warrants,” Pretorious told the state.

Baba said his hands are tied at this stage as he relied on the investigating officer to execute the warrants. He also said he was also still waiting for the officer to furnish him with the original warrants, as he only had them on email.

The case has been remanded to 16 July, where it is expected that the state will give the court clarity on the warrants and for the defence to be furnished with transcripts of the previous bail application of some of the accused persons.