Rodrigues returns to court in 2021
João ‘Jan’ Anastacio Rodrigues: Courtesy of www.ahmedtimol.co.za
João ‘Jan’ Anastacio Rodrigues who is facing murder charges for his role in the death of anti-apartheid activist Ahmed Timol in October 1971, returns to court on Tuesday, (DETAILS AWAITED) before Monama J.
This matter is expected to be postponed yet again pending the decision of the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in Bloemfontein. Judgment was reserved after a virtual hearing heard Rodrigues’s 342A application on Friday, 06 November 2020. (High Court & SCA Papers here).
The main points of arguments of the legal team of Rodrigues included inter alia the existence of secret amnesty granted to perpetrators or alleged perpetrators of unlawful conduct of a political nature alternatively that there was an agreement with the authorities to the effect that no prosecutions would be instituted for political offences of this nature. It was also argued that the late filing of opposing affidavits for the first and second respondents, namely the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) and Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, ought to be construed as improper conduct.
A 342 (A) application made to the Full Bench of the South Gauteng High Court was dismissed on 31 May 2019. The judgment was scathing on the conduct of the National Prosecution Authority. (Read judgment here).
Rodrigues was charged on 30 July 2018 and has made numerous court appearances since (See timeline below). His criminal trial is yet to commence.
A Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) Application was submitted by Timol’s nephew, Imtiaz Ahmed Cajee in May 2019 to the Department of Justice & Correctional Services (DOJ&CD) requesting the total financial costs incurred by the State for the legal costs of Joao Antonio Rodrigues . It revealed in a response dated 15 November 2019 that a staggering R 3 585, 205.92 (three million five hundred and eighty-five thousand two hundred and five rand, ninety-two cents) of taxpayers’ money has been spent thus far on the costs of legal representation for Roderigues.
This covers the inquest, criminal remands and the stay of prosecution. It must be noted that the criminal trial of Rodrigues has not even started yet. Remarkably, the DOJ&CD have refused to provide a breakdown of the costs paid, since it “will encroach on private individuals“. The attorney for Rodrigues, Mr Ben Minnaar refused to consent to such disclosure. Mr Minnaar previously worked in the State Attorney’s Office. In private practise, he now represents Rodrigues. (Read his response here).
More than three years (12 October 2017) have lapsed since Judge Billy Mothle overruled a 1972 inquest finding that Ahmed Timol had committed suicide by jumping to his death from the 10th floor of John Vorster Square Police Station (renamed Johannesburg Central Police Station). Judge Mothle in his historic overturning of the decision of the original inquest court also referred the conduct of two other special branch members identified at the inquest as Neville Els and Seth Sons to the NPA for their decision.
On 21 May 2020, Adv G.D. Baloyi, the Acting Director of Public Prosecutions Gauteng Division, Pretoria declined to prosecute both Els and Sons.
Police records showed that Els, a warrant officer, was one of the police interrogators on duty the night in 1971 that another detainee, Kantilal Naik, was tortured using the “helicopter method”. The “helicopter method” involved forcing someone to crouch, placing a wooden pole behind their knees and handcuffing their wrists and ankles to the pole before suspending them upside down as the pole is balanced between two tables.
Five former political detainees submitted affidavits after Sons’ 2017 court appearance detailing assaults they suffered at his hands or by members of his team while he was present. Sons retired from the police with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was one of the highest-ranking non-white policemen and oversaw his own team of non-white police officers in the Security Branch. He was called the “master torturer” by some of his victims.
The legal firm Webber Wentzel representing Imtiaz Cajee, nephew of Ahmed Timol and the Foundation for Human Rights (FHR) on 22 June 2020 made representation to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to reverse their decision to not prosecute Neville Els and Seth Sons for perjury committed in their testimony during the reopened Ahmed Timol inquest in 2017. The NPA is yet to respond. It had taken the NPA more than 30 months (2.5 years) to make this decision after persistent correspondence from Cajee to various officials at the NPA.
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the murder of Ahmed Timol, a digital exhibition will be launched during the year paying tribute to this unsung hero and martyr.
Timeline:
26 June 2017
Re-Opening of the Timol Inquest
12 October 2017
Ruling handed down and 1972 Verdict overturned
30 July 2018
Rodrigues charged and 1st court appearance in Johannesburg Magistrate Court
18 September 2018
Rodrigues Court Appearance at South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg
15 October 2018
Rodrigues Court Appearance at South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg
22 October 2018
Rodrigues Court Appearance at South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg
20 November 2019
Meeting in Chambers
28 January 2019
Rodrigues Court Appearance at Palm Ridge Court, Germiston
28 & 29 March 2019
Application for Permanent Stay of Prosecution (342A) Argued at South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg
31 May 2019
Judgment handed down at South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg
28 June 2019
Rodrigues Court Appearance at the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg
02 August 2019
Rodrigues Court Appearance at Palm Ridge Court, Germiston
18 September 2019
Application for leave to appeal, South Gauteng High Court dismissed
25 September 2019
Rodrigues Court Appearance at the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburgfor Criminal Proceedings
22 October 2019
Meeting in Chambers in Palm Ridge High Court
12 December 2019
Provisional Criminal Trial Case
28 February 2020
Rodrigues Court Appearance at the South Gauteng High Court
28 May 2020
Rodrigues Court Appearance at the South Gauteng High Court
31 July 2020
Rodrigues Court Appearance at the South Gauteng High Court
29 October 2020
Rodrigues did not attend proceedings at Palmridge High Court. Order of Arrest held over
06 November 2020
SCA hears matter in Bloemfontein: High Court & SCA Papers: https://www.ahmedtimol.co.za/rodrigues-high-court-sca-papers/
Repeat Broadcast: Rodrigues at SCA & Media Coverage
07 December 2020
Rodrigues Court Appearance at the Palmridge High Court. Warrant of arrest cancelled and bail extended
16 February 2021
Next court appearance