Let’s clear one thing up: Not a single resident of Nelson Mandela Bay could have died if deputy mayor Gary van Niekerk did not attend a conference in Germany last month.
And magistrate Khuselwa Majali was not falling for that argument either, which is why she found him guilty of contempt of court and slapped him with a R2,000 fine or 30 days in prison.
Van Niekerk failed to show up for his cyber fraud trial in the commercial crimes court. He is accused of contravening the Municipal Finance Management Act.
Instead, he chose to attend a conference involving German and African municipalities in Braunschweig.
This led to Majali issuing a warrant of arrest, which was held over until Van Niekerk appeared before court to explain himself.
On Monday, Van Niekerk told the court he missed the date because his secretaries had failed to enter it in his diary.
He also claimed that he only discovered his scheduled court appearance on social media, and he felt conflicted because he did not want to waste the money of those who paid for the trip, and he did not want to miss out on possible investments.
Asked by his attorney, Danie Gouws, if people could have died if he had not undertaken the trip, he responded yes.
“It would have been an embarrassment to us if we did not attend and this funding went down the drain,” Van Niekerk said.
What is embarrassing is Van Niekerk thinking he can hoodwink the court, and residents of the Bay, into believing that he was on a life-saving mission; it is a fallacy.
Instead, he has undermined the court’s authority and possibly thought he would get away with it, that the court would not act, but he did not and he now has a criminal record to show for it.
Van Niekerk has, in a statement, apologised and said he regretted his actions and recognised where he erred. Good.
May it serve as a lesson to all who think they are above the law — the courts hold no prisoners; the courts must be respected or wrongdoers will have to deal with the consequences for challenging its authority.
The Herald
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