Vijay Sewtahal: South African prisons are over-crowded, and there are thousands of awaiting trial inmates. This burden is costing the taxpayer at least R3.5-billion a year.
It seems the criminal justice system is in a shambles.
A key issue related to this situation is shoddy and dodgy police work. Crime dockets are not properly compiled, which results in attorneys getting acquittals for hardened criminals.
It is often reported that further crimes are committed by some of those out on parole or bail.
Some detectives have no experience in compiling the dockets that play a vital role in convictions. We also hear about dockets going missing.
Why aren't the compiled dockets scanned into a computer database once completed, as a back-up should the original go missing?
The criminal justice system needs to be overhauled with more emphasis on police training to rectify this situation and reduce crime. This is also an opportunity to create jobs.
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