A KZN man is suing the government for R16.3m after a blunder resulted in him being jailed for no reason for almost three years.
|||Pietermaritzburg -
A court official’s blunder in writing the wrong case number, and then not writing on a document that a man had been granted bail, resulted in his being jailed for no reason for almost three years, during which he feared for his life.
Sivion Mkhize, 28, of Ezakheni Township near Ladysmith, is suing the minister of justice and constitutional development for R16 million in damages and R300 000 for loss of earnings.
His advocate, Mergen Chetty, told the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Monday that in November 2001 Mkhize was convicted of murder and aggravated robbery and was sentenced to life imprisonment and 15 years.
He was granted leave to appeal and R5 000 bail. However, the registrar forgot to write this on the relevant court documents. She also wrote the wrong case number.
“She was negligent and breached her duty of care,” Chetty said.
Mkhize had made numerous enquiries as to why he was not being released, but got nowhere because the case number he referred to was different from the one written on his file. He wrote two letters, first to then-judge president Vuka Tshabalala, who replied that he had not been given bail, and the second to the public protector, who said she could not assist.
Chetty added that Mkhize’s girlfriend had also made enquiries and travelled to Pretoria, Bloemfontein, Pietermaritzburg and Dundee in search of answers.
In February 2004, Mkhize’s appeal was heard in the Pietermaritzburg High Court by a full Bench, and upheld. But he was not present and he did not know his appeal had taken place – because the wrong case number was on the file.
However, he was released, but wrongly told at the prison that he had been granted bail.
It was only in 2007, with the help of an attorney, that he discovered his case was completed and that he was a free man.
The department is disputing liability and quantum.
The civil trial continues on Tuesday.
The Mercury