Are members of the legal fraternity well protected when it comes to covering high-profile cases?
According to the Department of Justice, extra safety protocols are in place to protect legal counsels. However, on Sunday, May 16, the Magistrate who was overseeing the case involving alleged crime boss Nafiz Modack was shot in the buttocks while waiting at a carwash in Mfuleni.
It is alleged Magistrate Abram Mashala was in Taurmaline Street in the Bardale Informal Settlement when assailants opened fire, killing a female police officer and wounding her three-year-old grandson in the process.
According to IOL, for the past five years, five legal officers have either been wounded or killed, in Cape Town. Mashala is not the first presiding officer overseeing a high-profile case that has been shot.
High-profile criminal lawyer, Noorudien Hassan, who represented the likes of alleged 28 gang boss, Ralph Stanfield, was shot and killed in front of his home in Lansdowne in November 2016.
#NaijaTopaz Top South African Criminal Lawyer, Noorudien Hassan Shot Dead By Unknown Gunmen Outside His Home https://t.co/jRHN0fHqWl #MGWV pic.twitter.com/Q4On5XlLgK
— Derrick Chidumebi Pẹlumi ? (@thederricktopaz) November 8, 2016
Another incident that rocked the legal fraternity was that of Advocate Pete Mihalik, who was and killed in October 2018.
Mihalik was dropping off his children at a school in Green Point. His alleged attackers are currently carrying out pre-trial conditions at the Cape High Court.
Another suspect is being questioned for the execution of Advocate Pete Mihalik. His son, who was also shot during the incident, has undergone surgery. https://t.co/HSYt52V6Z1 pic.twitter.com/1x8DfHEVvV
— Cape {town} Etc (@CapeTownEtc) October 31, 2018
Advocate Vernon Jantjies who presided as a magistrate at the Khayelitsha Magistrate’s Court was killed outside a garage in Lentegeur, Mitchells Plain in December 2019. His murder was never solved.
Condolences are streaming in for the family of Vernon Jantjies, a prominent Cape Town advocate who was shot and killed at a petrol station last night. https://t.co/kIaEPWk0xz pic.twitter.com/Opsmf50nXu
— Cape {town} Etc (@CapeTownEtc) December 2, 2019
Well, known advocate William Booth survived an assassination attempt in April 2020, when gunmen opened fire on him outside his house.
Gang trio who tried to murder lawyer William Booth sentenced https://t.co/WFO43Y4y6W via @iol #AllCapeTown #CapeTown pic.twitter.com/5NKXFgY9ME
— Cape Town (@allcapetown) April 24, 2021
Meanwhile, the bail application of Modack and co-accused will proceed on Monday, May 24.
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