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How amazing yet once again, in how the wealth of a person can affect his future.
In testimony before a High Court in the matter State vs. Pretorius, it is testified, and for that matter testified under oath, that he would not be a suitable candidate in view of his disability to be given direct imprisonment.
Yet on closer scrutiny and from personal knowledge, many a correctional institution at this point in time is accommodating people with disabilities. People that rely on wheelchairs for their movement around the center, and who have to get around with the help of fellow offenders.
No provision is made for ramps, where these individuals have to access areas and fellow offenders have to help them to gain access up the stairs in each and every instance.
The Department of Correctional Services absolutely lacks policy in respect of the detainment of people with disabilities.
People with terminal disease who might never ever see the day of light outside are being detained inside centers across South Africa, yet testimony in the relevant court, insist that imprisoning Oscar Pretorius, who incidentally killed a person, but through the luck of the draw, was found innocent to murder, but guilty of manslaughter (and this has been criticized by many in the legal fraternity as being unethical) would and could not be detained in a correctional center.
Someone from within Correctional Services even testified that a suitable sentence would be a correctional supervision sentence of 3 years in terms of Section 276 (i) of the Criminal Procedures Act with 16 hours community service per month, and also that Oscar would then in terms of the sentence imposed never see the inside or be subject to any of the conditions that prevails in correctional centers across South Africa.
Isn’t it co-incidence that no sooner was Oscar Pretorius convicted of manslaughter and not murder that even the sentence of Jub-Jub Maarohyane was converted from murder to manslaughter, as a case of reference now existed.
In law it appears that what is good for the right, or even bad for the right, is not good or bad for the left.
If you have the resources anything is possible, yet the same merit should apply to all those that stand accused of any grievous crime that he or she has committed. Money and wealth should not in any way interfere with justice, as this would result in the society out there, coming to the conclusion that only those that can’t afford the kind of legal representation that Oscar Pretorius had, would be imprisoned – this in effect meaning that only the poor would end up being imprisoned, and those with money will never ever be subject to the conditions within correctional centers.
Justice should prevail and money and wealth should not be the deciding factor on imposing sentence and convictions.
We should all be treated equally in the eyes of the law, and no-one, no matter what, should receive preferential treatment in any way, due to his or her wealth, and the representation he or she can afford, and or witnesses paid to testify in his or her favour
