Cape Town - Officials from the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) will be called to appear before Western Cape High Court Judge Robert Henney amid a spat over why an alleged gang boss affiliated with Nafiz Modack was not brought to court.
Dramatic scenes played out in the mammoth underworld trial yesterday, as the seasoned judge warned he would not play around with accused who refused to attend trials or officials who allegedly refused to bring them.
This comes amid two conflicting reports presented to Judge Henney yesterday, after Modack’s co-accused Moegamat Toufeek “Bubbles” Brown failed to pitch.
The man, who is accused of being the leader of the Terrible Westsiders gang and allegedly helped Modack to plot the attempted assassination of lawyer William Booth and the murder of the father of a Hawks detective, had also failed to attend court on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, a medical certificate was presented to Judge Henney, stating that he could not attend court, but the nature of his illness was not divulged.
Judge Henney subsequently delayed further evidence being heard until Brown was able to consult with his lawyer, advocate Nazeer Parkar, to establish if the court could continue in his absence.
Brown later agreed as the evidence being led by the Hawks investigators did not implicate him.
Yesterday, proceedings were again delayed for hours when Brown’s absence was noted, but confusion filled the courtroom as it was revealed that there was no reason for his absence.
After hours of waiting, State prosecutor advocate Greg Wolmarans told the court that after consulting with a DCS official named Rudi du Plooy, they were informed that Brown simply refused to attend the trial.
He said Brown did not ask to see a doctor and when officials insisted he be seen by a doctor before being brought to court, it was found that nothing was wrong with him and the doctor refused to send a medical note to court.
Parkar said that was “blatant lie” and that his client had “blacked out” in prison and was treated for high blood pressure and hypertension.
Parkar told the court that his client was never fetched by DCS officials to be taken to court or the hospital on Tuesday.
Judge Henney, however, did not mince his words when he said Du Plooy would be brought to court to address the allegations.
“If he refused then he would be in contempt of court and I will deal with him. I am not taking sides until I get the full picture. Not inclined that an official can ignore the warrant of detention which is a court order,” he said as he warned he would not allow officials or accused persons to delay the trial.
mahira.duval@inl.co.za
Cape Argus