July riots – justice and healing are necessary

WHEN we reported last week on the trial of two Phoenix brothers who were facing a murder charge related to the July 2021 looting and rioting that rocked the suburb and many other areas of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, the focus was on the guilty or not guilty verdict.

The not guilty ruling with respect to the murder of Mondli Majola understandably left his family and friends, as well as the survivors who are complainants in the charges of assault and attempted murder, disappointed.

Judge Gregory Kruger ruled that the evidence placed before him was insufficient to convict the two of murder. Despite video evidence showing the unarmed deceased man being shot at by a man wearing a yellow T-shirt, the police failed to collect enough evidence to assist the State’s case.

The judge described the work of the police as shoddy, and the victims’ families were justified in feeling aggrieved, erroneously apportioning the blame on the judge who could not go out there and hunt down the shooter himself and gather other pieces of evidence.

Significantly, the brothers, Dylan and Ned Govender, were found guilty of the lesser but still very serious charges of assault and attempted murder.

They may have escaped the murder conviction but will still have to come back to court to face the music in connection with the charges that stuck.

With the trial resuming in the Durban High Court in July, a new phase begins where the judge will play a greater, more direct and crucial role of determining appropriate sentences and how these crimes should be viewed.

As the presiding officer, Judge Kruger has a heavy duty and the exceptional power to exercise discretion in determining appropriate sentences, viewing each case and each convict on an individual basis.

He will be guided by established cases and principles and would have to weigh the interests of the victims, those of society and the convicted accused.

Besides the types and severity of sentences to be handed down after considering all important factors, it is going to be interesting to see how the judge will view and label the crimes committed.

We state this and look forward to it with special interest as “the media” because it often falls on members of our profession to label or describe the news.

The riots triggered intense, painful and sometimes divisive debate about what happened during that dark period of July 2021. Some decried what they saw as vigilantes with their “excessive use of force”, “racial profiling”, “taking the law into their own hands” and so on. Others saw “heroes”, “community defenders” and responsible citizens standing up to fill a gap left by the law-enforcement authorities who had abdicated their responsibilities.

There were victims on all sides of the class, residential and racial divides. There was pain all around, and the wounds have not healed.

Let’s all hope this final phase of this trial will help move closer towards healing.