Covid-19: Paying an admission of guilt fine will give you a criminal record
Legal expert says people issued with fines for contravening lockdown regulations may take these matters to court instead of ending up with a criminal record.
A criminal law expert has warned South Africans about the implications of paying fines issued for the breach of lockdown regulations.
William Booth addressed South Africans on South African law and the lockdown regulations during a webinar presented by Mail and Guardian and the Law Society of South Africa on Monday.
He criticised the government for drafting the regulations poorly and for failing to train law enforcement officials properly, which has caused unjustifiable incidents during their enforcement thereof.
Many South Africans have, according to Booth, been paying admission of guilt fines after having been accused of contravening lockdown regulations.
“If one gets fined, particularly for petty offences…rather take the matter to court,” he said.
The consequences of a criminal record are often far-reaching. As an example, he indicated that companies often elect not to hire applicants who have criminal records.
“I found that some people were fined for petty offences, sometimes for not even contravening the regulations. Some were fined for going out of their homes to buy bread, while some were fined for getting lost in another area,” he said.
More than 230 000 people have been charged for contravening lockdown regulations thus far.
On top of the regulations having been drafted poorly and being confusing, Booth added that constant changes to it has led to many people being fined for the wrong reasons.
Booth said “very little training” on the enforcement of the regulations by police opened a door for many citizens to be mistreated by state security.
Many cases of police brutality have been reported. This, however, is not limited to the lockdown and has been an ongoing problem in South Africa. Booth believes that this is the case because of a lack of training.
He cited the case of Collins Khosa, who died after he was allegedly beaten by SANDF members for drinking alcohol in his own yard last month.
On 15 May, judge Hans Fabricius of the Gauteng High Court ordered the ministers of defence and police to draw up a code of conduct with guidelines for behaviour and interaction of the officers during the lockdown with the public.
Fabricius, like Booth, stated that instances of police brutality were caused by a lack of training of the lockdown rules.
He said the law enforcement should have been more lenient towards the public and issued warnings rather than arrests and fines in most cases.
Police spokesperson Vish Naidoo said although officers were not necessarily trained to deal with Covid-19 lockdown responses, they were trained on operations conducted during the lockdown.
Booth also argued that the regulations needed more legal input in the protection of basic human rights. “The regulations must be fair.”
As an example of the unjustifiable execution of lockdown rules, Booth referred to incidents in which South Africans ended up in trouble for smoking or having cigarettes.
In some cases, they were asked to prove their purchase with a receipt. This, he said, was an unlawful request.
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President of Law Society of South Africa, attorney Mvuzo Notyesi, also spoke and said that oversight of the national coronavirus command council was crucial.
According to Notyesi, South Africans should know that the lockdown regulations and command council have not replaced South Africa’s constitution, which is still the country’s highest law.
The Constitutional Court remains supreme and Notyesi indicated that the unjustifiable violation of constitutional rights during this time can be adjudicated by the Constitutional Court.
William Booth is a Cape Town-based practising attorney with more than 30 years’ experience, with a specialty in criminal law.
He also owns a criminal law firm, William Booth Criminal Defence Attorneys.
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