South Africa's criminal justice system is deeply flawed. In fact it stinks. To get a view close up, just sit in Cape Town's courts for two hours as I did last week and you will suddenly understand why people are robbed and killed daily.
A guy with ten previous convictions and a suspended sentence was given another 9-month suspended sentence and a warning that "that this is your last chance but if you commit another crime, you will sit."
Another serial offender, because of a botched investigation, gets off the hook and makes the sign of the cross as the magistrate dismisses him. Two African foreign nationals cannot be helped because the court translator speaks Swahili, even though that is not their language!
Bail is dished out right left and centre to fill the coffers of the justice department and to keep the already overflowing prisons from overflowing even more. Why not use this money to compensate victims? For magistrates crime prevention and crime control are of least importance.
Getting rid of the problem is the issue and this is made easy if there is no public scrutiny. And so those who rub shoulders with us in our daily lives are criminals on the loose. Conviction rates are low and recidivism rates high because offenders do not fear the law and thousands of those who commit crime are serial offenders.
So how did I come to be in court? On Wednesday 26th September between 6 and 8pm my laptop and additional computer equipment were stolen from my car parked in the underground secure parking in the Waterfront. There was no forced entry and I discovered this only when I got home.