ISSUES AT STAKE: Municipal courts – a bulldog without teeth?

What good is the best legal system without any enforcement, asks RACHELLE BREED

DURING the uThungulu Crime Summit in March, the establishment of a municipal or community court was announced as an intervention strategy to strengthen the criminal justice system by easing the load.

The specialised court is expected to deal with less serious crimes such as shoplifting, petty theft, petty gambling, traffic offences, riotous behaviour, common assault and contravention of bylaws.

While the police and courts are struggling under heavy caseloads, including serious and violent crimes such as murder, rape and robbery, law enforcement officers are justifiably arguing that they do not have the manpower to lock up and prosecute the growing scores of prostitutes, jaywalkers, dagga smokers, trespassers, noisy neighbours and people urinating in public.

The municipal court is seemingly an answer to prayer for everybody, including complainants who are on the bottom of the priority list.

But is it really?

Recently, the Zululand Observer has been inundated with complaints from residents reporting open criminal activities such as drug dealing, public indecency, littering and liquor consumption in public parks.

Serious contraventions of municipal bylaws are rife in every neighbourhood of the city and neighbouring towns.

Brothels and drug dens, thinly veiled as ‘guest houses’ and ‘massage spas’ and even a ‘drug rehabilitation centre’, are mushrooming everywhere and a large entertainment company operates from residential premises without any visible intervention by local authorities.

Crack kitchen

One man says his neighbour has been operating a ‘crack kitchen’ for years.

Another is stuck with blasting music and industrial noise levels all hours of the day.

Crime patrollers say drunken drivers rule the road after hours with no traffic police in sight.

And if a police patrol van stops a suspect, the driver must be conveyed to a state hospital for blood tests, taking the police van out of circulation for hours.

Beggars and jaywalkers on every street corner create traffic obstructions and place their own and the lives of others at risk, such as a known female addict who regularly strips her clothing in the middle of the John Ross Parkway at night, high on drugs.

Cattle still roam everywhere and people have virtually given up reporting incidents, because it is like sweeping the sea with a broom.

Do not forget the water wasters, spilling precious gallons while washing cars and equipment in plain sight.

Though we have the best legislation, including our constitution, civil and municipal bylaws, a law is of no use without enforcement.

To have an operational municipal court, which practices restorative justice, will go a long way in bringing to book petty offenders and resolve neighbourly disputes, while channeling more serious matters to district courts.

One can however only hope that the institution will first and foremost appoint willing and able manpower to react to complaints, investigate cases and ensure that justice is done at every level.