DEAR Editor,-
I refer to the report related to the murder of Loranda Duncan reported on page two of your issue, dated March 7.
The accused, Mazubane, is reported to have been out on bail following a house robbery that occurred in July last year. That house robbery, 10am on a Monday morning, was my neighbour’s house. My wife, alone at the time and following a vague report, called the police, who reacted swiftly and eventually caught most of the five-man gang involved, not before one of the gang fired at the police with a stolen handgun.
How does this man get bail? What was the required bail? Where does he raise the money from? He is unemployed, of no fixed abode, has been directly involved in a serious armed robbery case where the police were fired on, and yet he is allowed his freedom which resulted in the death of Mrs Duncan. If I were a member of Mrs Duncan’s family, I would be asking some serious questions of the magistrate involved.
I am advised, I think with some accuracy, that in some cases, although the prosecutors ask for bail to be denied, the sitting magistrate overrules this request and grants bail. Why is this?
Further, reference is frequently made in the press and court reports, of the ‘smell of alcohol’. Pure alcohol is a tasteless, odourless, colourless, poisonous, inflammable liquid, amongst other things. You cannot smell it
Also, the crime of ‘defeating the ends of justice’ – in other parts of the world, the crime is referred to as ‘attempting to defeat the ends of justice’. If a person had defeated the ends of justice, we would not know about it, surely?
Living on the South Coast, make that South Africa, is becoming a nightmare.
DJ OWEN
Anerley
