Chain Reaction: Questions Raised After Dr Nandipha Enters Court Without Leg Irons Only Chained Inside Court
South Africans have expressed confusion over a recent video showing Dr Nandipha Magudumana being ‘treated like royalty’ by South African Police Services.
This is after she was seen outside court walking freely while disembarking from a police van without leg irons as she briskly walks inside.
The celebrity criminal is then seen on the same day entering the courtroom with leg irons on.
Who Is Fooling Who?: South Africans Question Dr Nandipha’s Treatment
Social media went into overdrive on Wednesday after some pointed out the ‘anomaly’.
Mzilikazi wa Afrika said;
@SAPoliceService
you can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time #DrNandiphaMagudumana
STAGED: Dear @SAPoliceService you can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time #DrNandiphaMagudumana pic.twitter.com/Cxaf2KFQty
— Mzilikazi wa Afrika (@IamMzilikazi) June 21, 2023
Who’s fooling who here? #DrNandipha #ThaboBester pic.twitter.com/S4lpg6FLsx
— Man’s NOT Barry Roux (@AdvoBarryRoux) June 21, 2023
However, some social media users argued that it is well within the law for Dr Nandipha to be free from restraints under the circumstances. Here are some responses;
@DonaldMakhasane
It’s like that with all prisoners. You wear your clothes to court as log as you are in the trial section in prison. And you only get chained inside the court and freed again when you leave. Nothing special
@NdivhuwoBarnes
The chains can be removed where the officers deemed it safe for the prisoner not to be able to run away from them, inside court the prisoner is not under close monitoring by the officers
According to the African Human Right Law Journal, mechanical restraints (cuffs);
“shall in no circumstances whatsoever be used as punishment.”
“The 1998 Act further prohibits the use of mechanical restraints, other than handcuffs or leg irons, when a prisoner is brought before a court, unless the court authorises such restraints. Both Acts forbid the use of mechanical restraints as a form of punishment or as a disciplinary measure.”
Therefore, it may be safe to say that Dr Nandinpha was well within her rights to walk without the leg irons.
