High noon in Germiston

Germiston Magistrate's Court was where my action was today. The R250-million drug smuggling matter involving the Paparas family.

Quite boring for the most part apart from the few exceptional showdowns between the prosecution and defence.

The prosecutor on this case was one Advocate Gerrie Nel:

 

 

He is the same guy who has just successfully prosecuted our former police chief, dirty Jackie Selebi. He might be a small guy, but put him in court and he throws his weight around and pulls some impressive punches.

Squaring up against him today was Advocate Sita Kolbe SC:

 

 

She is basically a female version of Gerrie. Put her in a courtroom and she is like a Rottweiller let loose.

So letting the two of them go head to head against each other is quite entertaining.

This morning's first witness was an undercover Scorpions agent who had raided a plot where the two-ton hashish consignment had been stashed. He had filmed it all with a hidden camera and recorded it in his investigations diary.

Once done with his evidence, Sita let Gerrie know that she took exception to his nodding and shaking his head during her cross examination, implying that he had been communicating with the witness when not to answer and how to respond.

Gerrie took huge exception, revealed her allegations to the court and placed on record that he most certainly never, ever would do such a dastardly thing.

Then Sita accused him of adding in an undisclosed witness as a stalling strategy designed to get the case postponed because he knew she would not be available next week.

Again, he furiously denied this.

And on and on.

And it continues tomorrow.

Oh joy!