Patricia Khoza – a case emblematic of the breakdown of rule of law

My Fellow South African,

On Thursday morning, ActionSA activists again joined Patricia Khoza at the Germiston Magistrate’s Court in Ekurhuleni for the trial of an alleged building hijacking to start. 

It has now been nine months since Patricia first brought the case of the hijacked building in Germiston to my attention. It has now been nine months since we helped Patricia apprehend the alleged hijacker, undocumented immigrant Tony Kadzadi, after police failed to give it any attention. 

And yet we are nowhere closer to a verdict than we were nine months ago. 

The reason why the case has captivated me is because I believe it is emblematic of the breakdown of the rule of law in South Africa. 

From the onset, Patricia has faced opposition to having justice served. She was irregularly arrested for illegally entering a property – despite the property itself being hijacked, and her family was victimised and intimidated.

Meanwhile, the trial against Kadzadi – who is accused of illegally charging rent and intimidating inhabitants – has now been postponed 11 times for frivolous reasons, while he is repeatedly granted bail despite not having any South African documentation. 

His long delayed trial finally started on Thursday, but is now only set to resume again end of October – another month later. 

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Public Protector, Home Affairs and Police Commissioner have all failed to take any action to bring accountability despite ActionSA’s repeated pleas. The building Kadzadi is charged for hijacking itself was receiving water and electricity right up to the moment we intervened. 

How is it possible for the rule of law to be upheld in South Africa when it takes months for victims of crime to see justice? Why would any criminal fear our justice system if they can simply frustrate it through postponements and delays? 

I have repeatedly said that South Africa will never be able to grow our economy – creating millions of jobs to uplift our people – unless we restore the rule of law in our country. No one wants to open a business in a community when they fear their stock being stolen, their staff intimidated or their clients fear for their lives. 

No one wants to operate businesses when they have to pay bribes to gangsters and syndicates simply to keep their doors open. 

That is why ActionSA is resolute in our commitment to restoring the rule of law in communities across South Africa. At our policy conference two weeks ago, delegates approved that when ActionSA enters government next year, criminals will face harsher sentences. 

Life sentence will mean life sentence and prisoners will provide productive labour that benefits society. Violent criminals – including rapists – will be denied bail. 

For us to start fixing South Africa, we have to restore the rule of law. While there may be many cases such as Patricia’s across the country, we believe one case is one too many. 

We believe every instance of crime in South Africa should be treated with the severity it deserves. That is why we will continue to work with Patricia to help bring justice to her case in the hopes of making sure that other cases also receive the justice they deserve. 

We cannot stand by while lawlessness creeps in across our country. Action is needed, and Action we will bring in every community we serve.