Burry Stander: Charges to be reinstated

 

misguided for who??

 

I still think lance was and will always be a great cyclist... I don't change my opinion just because it's the liberal thing to do...

Go read what you had to say about Lance going to destroy Tygart with facts...misguided and a short memory? Liberal? Hahahaha! Like your hero was liberal with the truth?

Question to the legal eagles here...what is the process now? NPA has to make a decision either way? Or could this just disappear?

This was in The Mercury today (and possibly Cape Times, Pretoria News and Star I think as well).

Bernadette Wolhuter

The family of Olympic cyclist Burry Stander have lost all faith in the criminal justice system and say they have received “shabby treatment” from the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

This was after charges against the taxi driver implicated in Stander’s death were withdrawn earlier this week.

“What happened is profoundly disappointing,” their lawyer, Paul Preston, said yesterday in a letter written, at the request of the family, to the chief prosecutor for southern KwaZulu-Natal, Ray Sansom. Preston called on the NPA to ensure that the charges were reinstated.

Njabulo Nyawose was driving a taxi and Stander cycling when the two collided in January. Stander, then 25, was killed and Nyawose was arrested and charged with culpable

homicide.

But, on Monday, when the State requested that the Port Shepstone Magistrate’s Court grant it a fourth postponement for a decision to be taken on whether or not to prosecute Nyawose, magistrate Piet Coetzee said there had been too many delays and refused the request, causing the State to withdraw the charges.

Preston has slammed the NPA for not keeping the Stander family and, in particular, Stander’s widow, Cherise, abreast of the case’s progress.

Cherise was not in court on Monday and first came to know that the charges had been withdrawn when The Mercury contacted her for comment.

“If there was a danger that this matter would be withdrawn due to the delays which all of us, with respect, find perplexing, then myself and the Stander family should have been alerted to this long before,” Preston said.

“One can only imagine how it must have felt for the family to hear from the press that charges had been withdrawn.”

Preston asked why, when the postponement was refused, the matter was not

stood down for prosecutor Nozipho Maseko to discuss the State’s next move with her superiors. The State should have considered making a more senior prosecutor available to argue for the postponement, he said.

Preston noted what he called an “often disappointing performance” on the part of the NPA and said the Stander family was owed an apology as well as the NPA’s assurance that the case would be brought before the courts again.

Provincial spokeswoman for the NPA, Natasha Ramkisson, was yesterday unable to provide comment on Preston’s letter, but said on Tuesday this week that the director of public prosecutions was still in the process of deciding whether or not to pursue the charges against Nyawose.

The Mercury's editorial/leader today ...

Right to justice

The decision to effectively drop the charges against the taxi driver who allegedly caused the death of Olympic cyclist Burry Stander has left his family and the cycling community angry, shocked and confused.

For proper justice in a civil society there has to be fairness from all sides.

In this case, Njabulo Nyawose, who is alleged to have been driving the taxi which killed Stander, deserves every right to a fair trial – something that the magistrate who refused the prosecutor’s request for a third postponement feels he is not getting with yet another delay.

Equally, the Stander family and the cycling community have every right to see Nyawose stand trial for what they believe were his negligent actions which caused the death of one of South Africa’s sporting heroes – and obviously Tuesday’s decision means that looks less likely to happen.

In the cycling community’s court of opinion there is no doubt Nyawose has already been found guilty, but that decision is based on the heartbreak of losing a hero and the anger of feeling like a target every time they head out on the roads.

In a fair and just court there is no place for these raw emotions and Nyawose’s guilt or innocence has to be tested against the hard facts of the case.

The problem is that the impression has been created that the Director of Public Prosecutions’ failure to do their job effectively and efficiently has resulted in the facts not being tested in court.

If this is the case, then justice has not been served and the Stander family has every right to be angry and demand the prosecutors and police do their jobs.

At the same time, the greater cycling community will also continue to feel that their basic rights as road users are being undermined in that they have no protection from the law whenever they venture out on the roads.

And a piece from the Star on the NPA ...

Shock as strong cases lost by incompetence

Political interference is added to inexperience and lack of leadership, derailing much good work, say critics

Botho Molosankwe

Political interference, lack of leadership, experienced yet unmotivated prosecutors leaving the profession, a lack of objectivity.

These are just some of the problems, according to defence lawyers, facing the National Prosecuting Authority.

They result in shock acquittals, supposedly strong cases being suddenly struck off the roll, charges being withdrawn, and angry magistrates blasting the State for shoddy work.

In the latest incident, culpable homicide charges against the taxi driver who allegedly knocked down cyclist Burry Stander in January were provisionally withdrawn on Tuesday when the magistrate refused to grant another postponement.

This comes soon after the corruption case against Kaizer Chiefs’ Bobby Motaung and his co-accused, involving more than R1 billion, was struck off the roll. In that case, the magistrate said he could not foresee the State continuing as the case had been postponed seven times already.

But two Mpumalanga Hawks members, who spoke to a Sunday paper on condition of anonymity, said they smelt a rat, adding that the investigation was complete, but if the NPA had a way of killing the case, it would.

“It’s just that they don’t know how it was investigated and are therefore resorting to technicalities,” one said.

A senior defence lawyer who asked to remain anonymous said there was a lack of proper leadership and guidance in the NPA and many experienced prosecutors were leaving. They were no longer motivated because of political interference.

The man, who has over 35 years’ experience, said many lawyers were shocked to read about the “unnecessary rigorous justice system” to which Sizwe Mankazana had been subjected. Mankazana was the driver of the car that crashed, killing Nelson Mandela’s great-granddaughter, Zenani, in 2010. He was acquitted.

“A just justice system is one that only prosecutes if there is a case. A political decision was made to prosecute the case (Mankazana’s) even though it had been reported that the car crashed because of a burst tyre.

“The problem is that cases that should not be prosecuted end up being prosecuted and those that are supposed to be prosecuted end up not being prosecuted,” he said.

NPA spokeswoman Bulelwa Makeke said while they could not pretend that some prosecutors were not incompetent, it would also be unfair to blame the NPA entirely when some cases did not go as far as hoped.

She said different factors determined the success of a case, such as the evidence and its ability to stand the test of dispute. “In instances where the shortcoming relates to a question of law… the criticism would be fair in that we can confidently say that the prosecutor was incompetent.

“However, in cases that are not successful because of the lack of quality in evidence and testimony, then that is totally unfair to cast aspersions on the NPA. We do concede that there are instances where we’ve found that cases were not successful purely due to the incompetence of the prosecutor allocated to the case and in those cases there are internal procedures to deal with the prosecutor.”

Burry Stander January 2013:

Njabulo Nyawose allegedly knocks down cyclist Stander who later dies of his injuries. The case is fraught with postponements and on Tuesday, July 2, magistrate Piet Coetzee refuses to grant another postponement to prosecutor Nozipho Maseko, who says they have not decided whether they will prosecute Nyawose or not. Charges against Nyawose have been provisionally withdrawn.

Andries Tatane April 13, 2011: Tatane dies after he is kicked, beaten and shot by police officers during service delivery protests in Ficksburg, in Free State. Tatane’s death is caught on camera. Seven police officers are arrested but all of them are acquitted when the magistrate says that the State has not proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and that it has failed to prove who the officers are who attacked Tatane.

Arthur J Brown March 7, 2007: J Arthur Brown is arrested on 192 charges related to the misappropriation of about R1-million company, Fidentia. Charges fall way over time and six years later the State proceeds with just nine. On May 15, he receives a R150 000 fine. Judge Anton Veldhuizen criticises the State’s handling of the case, asking why the chief financial officer of the Financial Services Board, Dawood Seedat, is called to testify only after Brown is convicted.

And a piece from the Star on the NPA ...

 

Shock as strong cases lost by incompetence

Political interference is added to inexperience and lack of leadership, derailing much good work, say critics

 

Botho Molosankwe

Political interference, lack of leadership, experienced yet unmotivated prosecutors leaving the profession, a lack of objectivity.

These are just some of the problems, according to defence lawyers, facing the National Prosecuting Authority.

They result in shock acquittals, supposedly strong cases being suddenly struck off the roll, charges being withdrawn, and angry magistrates blasting the State for shoddy work.

In the latest incident, culpable homicide charges against the taxi driver who allegedly knocked down cyclist Burry Stander in January were provisionally withdrawn on Tuesday when the magistrate refused to grant another postponement.

This comes soon after the corruption case against Kaizer Chiefs’ Bobby Motaung and his co-accused, involving more than R1 billion, was struck off the roll. In that case, the magistrate said he could not foresee the State continuing as the case had been postponed seven times already.

But two Mpumalanga Hawks members, who spoke to a Sunday paper on condition of anonymity, said they smelt a rat, adding that the investigation was complete, but if the NPA had a way of killing the case, it would.

“It’s just that they don’t know how it was investigated and are therefore resorting to technicalities,” one said.

A senior defence lawyer who asked to remain anonymous said there was a lack of proper leadership and guidance in the NPA and many experienced prosecutors were leaving. They were no longer motivated because of political interference.

The man, who has over 35 years’ experience, said many lawyers were shocked to read about the “unnecessary rigorous justice system” to which Sizwe Mankazana had been subjected. Mankazana was the driver of the car that crashed, killing Nelson Mandela’s great-granddaughter, Zenani, in 2010. He was acquitted.

“A just justice system is one that only prosecutes if there is a case. A political decision was made to prosecute the case (Mankazana’s) even though it had been reported that the car crashed because of a burst tyre.

“The problem is that cases that should not be prosecuted end up being prosecuted and those that are supposed to be prosecuted end up not being prosecuted,” he said.

NPA spokeswoman Bulelwa Makeke said while they could not pretend that some prosecutors were not incompetent, it would also be unfair to blame the NPA entirely when some cases did not go as far as hoped.

She said different factors determined the success of a case, such as the evidence and its ability to stand the test of dispute. “In instances where the shortcoming relates to a question of law… the criticism would be fair in that we can confidently say that the prosecutor was incompetent.

“However, in cases that are not successful because of the lack of quality in evidence and testimony, then that is totally unfair to cast aspersions on the NPA. We do concede that there are instances where we’ve found that cases were not successful purely due to the incompetence of the prosecutor allocated to the case and in those cases there are internal procedures to deal with the prosecutor.”

 

Burry Stander January 2013:

Njabulo Nyawose allegedly knocks down cyclist Stander who later dies of his injuries. The case is fraught with postponements and on Tuesday, July 2, magistrate Piet Coetzee refuses to grant another postponement to prosecutor Nozipho Maseko, who says they have not decided whether they will prosecute Nyawose or not. Charges against Nyawose have been provisionally withdrawn.

 

Andries Tatane April 13, 2011: Tatane dies after he is kicked, beaten and shot by police officers during service delivery protests in Ficksburg, in Free State. Tatane’s death is caught on camera. Seven police officers are arrested but all of them are acquitted when the magistrate says that the State has not proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and that it has failed to prove who the officers are who attacked Tatane.

 

Arthur J Brown March 7, 2007: J Arthur Brown is arrested on 192 charges related to the misappropriation of about R1-million company, Fidentia. Charges fall way over time and six years later the State proceeds with just nine. On May 15, he receives a R150 000 fine. Judge Anton Veldhuizen criticises the State’s handling of the case, asking why the chief financial officer of the Financial Services Board, Dawood Seedat, is called to testify only after Brown is convicted.

And that is why there's such a bad rap for the judicial system. The public prosecutors office needs a MASSIVE overhaul.

More nails in the coffin for South Africa...

A land of injustice, inequality, inefficiency and plain old blatant stupidity...

http://www.enca.com/south-africa/we-thought-law-would-be-our-side-mandy-stander

Port Shepstone - "We are finding it very, very difficult. We thought at least the law would take its course - that justice would be on our side."

I know this is lank emotional, BUT I don't think this is where the focus should be.

I feel for all involved here, obviously being a huge fan of Burry and his achievements I think this will be one of our biggest tragedies in local sports ever.

I do feel for the taxi driver too. I'm pretty sure he regrets the whole incident irrespective whether he was totally at fault or not at all. I doubt he has cash saved up for this sort of thing, and it is turning into a media circus. What are the chances of a fair trial...all involved deserve that.

I don't think that putting a man behind bars is the justice that Burry's death deserves. He needs way more than that. This must be the watershed moment that changes how we as all road users treat each other. I would prefer all the massive goodwill coming from this terrible event to be channelled into lobbying for better systems. I think that will be much more beneficial than expending effort on the legal process. Our jails are packed to the rafters yet crime continues rampantly...jailtime doesn't seem to be the deterrent and it definitely doesn't seem to be rehabilitating.

I don't condone the actions of the driver, off the top of my head i can think of Dan Hugo getting taken out by a truck ruining his last season and Martin Dreyer getting knocked off his bike finishing the 2012 freedom challenge.

I can't put myself in the shoes of the family members, so I'm not judging their actions in anyway. i would just prefer it that all the positive energy coming from this incident got channeled towards better road safety.

Another sad sad day for cycling. This should be making international headlines.

I know this is lank emotional, BUT I don't think this is where the focus should be.

 

I feel for all involved here, obviously being a huge fan of Burry and his achievements I think this will be one of our biggest tragedies in local sports ever.

I do feel for the taxi driver too. I'm pretty sure he regrets the whole incident irrespective whether he was totally at fault or not at all. I doubt he has cash saved up for this sort of thing, and it is turning into a media circus. What are the chances of a fair trial...all involved deserve that.

 

I don't think that putting a man behind bars is the justice that Burry's death deserves. He needs way more than that. This must be the watershed moment that changes how we as all road users treat each other. I would prefer all the massive goodwill coming from this terrible event to be channelled into lobbying for better systems. I think that will be much more beneficial than expending effort on the legal process. Our jails are packed to the rafters yet crime continues rampantly...jailtime doesn't seem to be the deterrent and it definitely doesn't seem to be rehabilitating.

 

I don't condone the actions of the driver, off the top of my head i can think of Dan Hugo getting taken out by a truck ruining his last season and Martin Dreyer getting knocked off his bike finishing the 2012 freedom challenge.

 

I can't put myself in the shoes of the family members, so I'm not judging their actions in anyway. i would just prefer it that all the positive energy coming from this incident got channeled towards better road safety.

If you want better road safety, those who - very publicly - kill vulnerable road users need to be, at the very least, taken to task in a court of law.

This guy is not even going to trial. He is going straight back to the driving seat, and the next person who he or one of his mates squashes could be you or a family member or one of your buddies.

The case has been very public and this is an opportunity for an example to be made - if not a conviction - which seems to me to be the obvious progression - then at the very least a thorough trial with competent prosecution, out of respect for a national hero.

No trial at all is nothing but a green light for idiots to drive as they please without any fear of recourse whatsoever. If you cannot see this then I really despair for this country and it's cycling future.

The NPA are a bunch of useless ******, but it's the idiots who claim to be cyclists, expressing sympathy for the drivers who mow us down - they are the people who really inspire despair. If I ever leave this country, leaving you lot behind will be the consolation prize.

The NPA are a bunch of useless ******, but it's the idiots who claim to be cyclists, expressing sympathy for the drivers who mow us down - they are the people who really inspire despair. If I ever leave this country it will leaving you lot behind that acts as the consolation prize.

Ps. My 30km commute to work this morning was awesome with the tailwind.

I take offence to being called an idiot. if you think a taxi driver getting ten years is going to make a difference to how the rest drive, then the iq of both countries will increase once you emigrate.

 

Ps. My 30km commute to work this morning was awesome with the tailwind.

Don't take offence because you must genuinely be a cretin of note. I don't need to call you an idiot because your post is all the evidence required. Do I really need to upload a crayon drawing to explain the concept of making a national example? This is the only channel we have to affect the murderous driving standards we as cyclists face. The evidence is right here on this website with fresh obituaries every week.

Don't take offence because you must genuinely be a cretin of note. I don't need to call you an idiot because your post is all the evidence required. Do I really need to upload a crayon drawing to explain the concept of making a national example? This is the only channel we have to affect the murderous driving standards we as cyclists face. The evidence is right here on this website with fresh obituaries every week.

Jeepers dude, get off your high horse and read his post again. He's been a lot more level headed than you've been here.

He's lobbying for overall change through a change in mindset. It's clear that our judicial system is currently up in smoke, so something different is needed. Something LIKE what he is saying - a mass change in mindset. Jailtime isn't that trigger.

Yeah LL, convicting one driver through pressure from the public is as bad as the case being dropped altogether.

We hear the point of an example being made of this driver because of Burry's status. Or justice being served by sheer virtue of a driver killing someone, but cast your memory back a few years to a series of ads where a driver is standing next to their car at an accident scene, in tears saying "I didn't see him", shortly before breaking down totally by the magnitude of what happened. This was an emotionally wrenching set of ads because they were able to clearly display sympathy for both sides.. this is that case. While the driver needs to face a fair trial to be proven guilty or innocent, the state can also not deny the family closure.

With this issue of the case being provisionally withdrawn, the focus is now becoming whether or not the justice system works, period. The case can and should continue at a later stage, but what if Burry's death is something larger, the cornerstone of change in the judicial system? Local and international pressure may highlight the need. What Shebeen seems to be suggesting is to channel your energy at the system, stop attacking him for this.

As a road commuting cyclist this disturbs me a great deal. If there is not going to be reasonable prosecution under the law for reckless drivers who end up killing cyclists, what protection do I have, motorists are further incouraged to treat me like a fly on the roads...................

Thanks for some backup guys, being a hugely emotional issue I'm not surprised that there's no agreement. I see LL's point and he's entitled to his opinion. There's no right answer here.

And I doff my cap everytime I ride/drive past a ghost bike twice a day...so I'm very aware of the background on this subject.

The problem is that bad driving causing death has been normalized while the outrage continues over bad cycling causing annoyance.

More nails in the coffin for South Africa...

 

A land of injustice, inequality, inefficiency and plain old blatant stupidity...

The problem is that bad driving causing death has been normalized

Nail on the head, moral fibre degradation and disregard for rules is the cause of much more than bad taxi drivers.

Killing is seen as part and parcel of everyday life, and that stems from bad leadership. People do as their leaders do not as their leaders tell them to do.

Nail on the head, moral fibre degradation and disregard for rules is the cause of much more than bad taxi drivers.

Killing is seen as part and parcel of everyday life, and that stems from bad leadership. People do as their leaders do not as their leaders tell them to do.

This is it. I now feel like I have to look left and right when driving through a green robot if it has only just switched colours. The amount of times I've crossed an intersection just as it's turned green and nearly been t-boned by a car skipping the red has just made it too risky not to check. How about people return to the absolute basics of road rules before jumping on the screaming wagon. i.e., slow down when you see an orange robot, don't try and be that extra car that tries to turn through the red robot, don't treat the stop street like a yield sign. I remember as a kid how my parents would make sure they didn't even put a tire over the pedestrian lines at intersections for fear of being fined. South Africans in general have a blatant disregard for laws. The attitude amongst almost everyone is that everybody else should follow the rules but "I should be allowed to bend them this time because my circumstances are different".

I was out riding the koppies in the south on the weekend when I came across RIP BURRY spray painted on the rocks.

 

Lots of blnking was required. It still cuts deep.

One written on the road at the Red Hill KOM, fading a bit now, along with the NPA's credibility, public outrage and media coverage.

Went down to KZN South Coast for a break earlier this month.

One day we drove to Shelly Beach and I stopped at the scene of the accident.

Was quite an emotional moment and just stood there for a while.

Went to the shop afterwards and his brother Charl was there. Didnt talk about the incident much, but I could see they're still hurting. Burry's 2012 Epic Kit is hanging in the store.

http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2013/07/30/driver-to-face-trial-over-burry-stander-s-death

Not sure what you okes are moaning about. If you read the previus articles th charges were dropped on a technicality and the state intended to re instate the charge.

Charges re-instated

http://www.iol.co.za/dailynews/news/taxi-driver-in-burry-death-faces-new-charges-1.1554622