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Outside the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court in the Western Cape.
Western Cape Judge President Nolwazi Mabindla-Boqwana has called on members of the public as well as court officials not to be deterred by the recent shootings around courts in the Cape Metro.
Security has come under the spotlight following three recent killings.
One person was gunned down in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court in April, another in Mitchells Plain about a week ago and one in Athlone on Friday.
Deputy Minister of Justice Andries Nel and Mabindla-Boqwana visited the Athlone Magistrate’s Court to get a report on a killing on Friday where an alleged gang member and murder accused were gunned down inside the courtyard.
Meanwhile, a person has been arrested after trying to smuggle a gun inside the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court earlier Monday.
Mabindla-Boqwana says the killings have become into a scourge.
“The attacks in court precinct are attacks against our democracy; they are attacks against administration of justice. So, it is important for us together to work together collaboratively as a team and have an integrated plan of how we can respond to what I call a scourge because it’s now becoming a scourge because it’s too frequent. Our people should not be scared to come to court, our people should not be scared to come to work.”
Recent shootings around Western Cape courts raise the need to increase visible policing:
