Top cop mix-up sees man freed

AN alleged dagga farmer walked out of court a free man last week following a bungle involving provincial top cop Celiwe Binta. However, Roy Brundyn’s relief may be short-lived as police said yesterday they, along with prosecutors, planned to place the case back on the roll.

The case against Brundyn, 31, was struck off the roll after Lieutenant-General Binta failed to arrive in court to explain details of the warrant that led to his arrest.

According to officials, the detective investigating the case failed to issue a subpoena to Binta, so the case was provisionally withdrawn.

Binta, who was never issued with a subpoena, failed to arrive at court on Thursday last week.

Lawyers wanted her to explain a special cordoned-off searchand-seizure warrant she signed in November 2014.

By law, a cordoned warrant, which is currently being implemented by the police during the national Operation Fiela, can only be signed by the provincial or national commissioner.

It allows police to cordon off an area, hold roadblocks and search houses, people and vehicles in that specific area.

Brundyn was arrested after police allegedly stumbled onto a small dagga plantation at his Central home.

Yesterday, police top brass said that, after a meeting with senior state prosecutors, the case would go back on the roll.

Brundyn’s lawyer, Paul Roelofse, confirmed that he had asked the state to call Binta to court to explain the warrant.

“This is the second case I have had where the case was struck off the roll due to the person who signed the warrant [Binta] failing to appear,” Roelofse said.

“The last one saw the person acquitted of all charges due to the person just not going to court.

“The reason I requested [Binta] to be in court is that I disputed the validity of the warrant, which means that they had to subpoena her.”

Roelofse said the case had been postponed several times before, which led to the case finally being struck off the roll.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesman Tsepo Ndwalaza declined to answer questions regarding the case, referring most queries to the police.

Ndwalaza said: “The provincial commissioner [Binta], who is one of our key witnesses, was not in court at [the] aforementioned date and on August 6 last year she was not in court as well.

“We therefore are not in a position to comment about competencies of other departments as there are relevant people who can deal with such issues.”

Usual protocol is for a witness to be subpoenaed and when failing to appear in court a warrant of arrest is issued for contempt of court.

Late yesterday afternoon, police confirmed the docket would be placed back on the roll.

Provincial police spokeswoman Colonel Sibongile Soci said Binta had never been summonsed.

“Police can confirm that the investigating officer did not serve the provincial commissioner with any subpoena,” she said.

“Accordingly she had no knowledge that her evidence was required in court.

“Arrangements are under way with all relevant parties to have the matter re-enrolled.”

“According to the NPA annual report, in 2014-15 117 664 cases were struck off the roll. This was up on the previous period when 111 730 were struck off.