Prosecution wants convicted modelling boss’ bail revoked pending sentencing

The prosecutor in the trial of disgraced modelling boss Dawie de Villiers on Wednesday called for his bail to be revoked.

Addressing the South Gauteng High Court‚ Arveena Persad asked the court to revoke De Villiers’ bail as he awaits sentencing – a move opposed by De Villiers’ defence counsel.

De Villiers has been out on R15‚000 bail since Judge Cassim Moosa found him guilty of violating at least one of his modelling clients in February.

Since then‚ he has changed from using a private attorney to a Legal Aid SA representative.

His new counsel submitted that he needed the transcription of the trial in order to prepare arguments for De Villiers’ sentencing.

Persad however argued that while De Villiers may need the documents in order to prepare for his leave to appeal‚ these were not entirely necessary for his sentencing.

Sentencing proceedings have faced numerous postponements because of the outstanding transcripts.

On Tuesday‚ a representative from the transcribers was called to the stand to give details on when the documents would be ready.

The court was told that the documents would be ready by July 21.

The matter was postponed to July 24.

While Judge Moosa did not revoke De Villiers’ bail‚ he stressed the importance of finalising the matter.

De Villiers’ matter has dragged on since October 2015.

The once respected model scout‚ who was even featured in Miss SA pageants‚ is still out on bail.

He has been convicted of numerous charges including rape‚ sexual assault‚ exposing children to pornography and fraud amounting to around R200‚000.

He had pleaded not guilty to the string of charges.