The tug-of-war between prison authorities and the legal representatives of two of the Waterkloof Four – who have not been released from prison despite two court orders ordering their immediate release – was to continue in the Pretoria High Court on Monday.
Despite all efforts from their legal team, Jenny Brewis and Jaap Cilliers SC, Reinach Tiedt and Gert van Schalkwyk – who were granted correctional supervision by the Pretoria Regional Court on Thursday – spent the weekend in jail because prison officials refused to release them.
An urgent application to the High Court on Friday resulted in a second court order and a contempt of court order against two senior prison officials. Zonderwater officials Tivani Makasane and Tozamile Tana, who are supposed to serve a month in jail for ignoring a court order, will have the chance to explain to the court next month why they should not be held in contempt and sent to jail.
The chief deputy commissioner of Correctional Services, Zachery Modise, said on Sunday that the department had applied for urgent leave of appeal against the release of the two Waterkloof men.
He did not want to comment on the reasons for the appeal but apparently they include a different interpretation of the law converting Tiedt and Van Schalkwyk’s imprisonment to correctional supervision.
“We have our reasons and they will be revealed in court tomorrow,” he said on Sunday.
Brewis confirmed they would be back in court on Monday in a bid to reinforce the two court orders.
Tiedt and Van Schalkwyk were sentenced in 2005, along with Frikkie du Preez and Christoff Becker, for the assault and murder of a homeless man in 2001. The man was never identified. They became known as the Waterkloof Four as three of the accused attended Hoërskool Waterkloof and Becker was the son of the headmaster at the time.
They were each sentenced to 12 years and started serving their sentence after a failed appeal in August 2008. At the time of sentencing, Tiedt and Van Schalkwyk were 20 year’s old. So far, Tiedt and Van Schalkwyk have served little more than a quarter of their effective sentence.
According to reports from the Correctional Supervision and Parole Board, they have been actively involved in rehabilitation programmes and contributed positively to their environment, having sourced new equipment for the Pretoria Central Prison’s gym. They had accepted responsibility for their actions, shown remorse and earned the respect of prison officials and inmates.
Chris Tiedt, Reinach’s father went to see Reinach on Sunday.
“Reinach is doing well and is still positive and we are hopeful that he will be home soon,” he said afterwards. – Pretoria News