The bribery and corruption syndicate linked to the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court has finally been exposed and so far one attorney has this week been struck off the roll.
Attorney Justice Rafedile has been disbarred for criminal activity relating to Palm Ridge Magistrate’s court.
The Star previously exposed a high-level ring where police would arrest innocent citizens and then irregularly process them at the police station usually with fake charge sheets.
The accused are then taken to Palm Ridge Magistrate’s court where on the first or second appearance the prosecutor would “strike a deal” with the attorney that the accused, usually a wealthy business person, pay a hefty amount for the charges to be dropped.
The funds then get shared between the police, prosecutor and attorney and the case is later dropped. The accused however doesn’t know that the attorney is in cahoots with the prosecutor.
Often, members of the SAPS would call a prosecutor to tell them that they are about to pounce on an eminent individual. The police then charge the person, who will be surrendered to the courts the next day.
Unknown to the accused, the prosecutor will put up a fight for the accused to remain in custody. The accused’s lawyer will then intervene, giving the impression that the case against the accused is very strong but requires more funds to “mediate” the case.
After the accused pays a said amount to his lawyer, the prosecutor will suddenly be lenient and the accused will get off scot-free. The accused pays between R50 000 and R200 000, depending on their wealth status.
This is according to a source at the court who listed seven such cases including the case of businessman Zaakir Mia. Often, members of the SAPS would call a prosecutor to tell them that they are about to pounce on an eminent or rich individual.
The police then charge the person, who will be surrendered to the courts the next day. Unknown to the accused, the prosecutor will put up a fight for the accused to remain in custody. The accused’s lawyer will then intervene, giving the impression that the case against the accused is very strong but requires more funds to “mediate” the case. “Sometimes the person is innocent.
They just keep the case on the roll for him to pay up. This is what happens at Palm Ridge,” the source said. Mia was charged by the Norwood police station on an allegation of property investment fraud. Although the complainant, Naushad Hassim’s case was previously thrown out of the High Court, the matter landed up at the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court.
A property deal involving Mia and Hassim went sour when Mia couldn’t raise investors for the property, leading Hassim to open a case against him. Mia, who lives in Linksfield was strangely charged in Norwood and the case was sent to the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court.
When The Star’s last contacted Hassim about the case, he responded: “I don’t have any objection to take part in your investigation. I just don’t want to jeopardise my case. It took me years to get this case to be prosecuted. I will have to take advice from my legal team first.”
The Star