Courthouse cleans up its act
The Department of Public Works (DPW), which owns the building the Boksburg Magistrate’s Court is housed in, says the flood situation in the holding cells is caused by a blocked main sewer line.
According to the DPW, since the most recent flood episode, which occurred over the past two weeks, the Ekurhuleni metro has fixed the blocked sewer line and the DPW has drained the water from the holding cells.
The department admits though this is not a new problem at the courthouse.
“There is constant water seepage underground which drains into the holding cells,” said spokesperson Thami Mchunu. “The department has installed two submerged water pumps to drain the water out on a daily basis.”
The DPW, Mchunu added, is responsible for general and ‘technical’ maintenance of the courthouse, and maintenance is carried out on a continuous basis.
Over the past two weeks, the flooding placed court proceedings in jeopardy, with one inmate managing to escape and another attempting to escape.
The prisoners couldn’t wait for their court appearance in the holding cells because the place was under water and so had to sit on the stairs leading up the courtrooms.
Only court orderlies stood between the prisoners and the front door. Since there is mostly a shortage of orderlies, and because they have to perform other duties around the courthouse, the two prisoners managed to take a gap and get out the front door.
The one who didn’t get away, a 17-year-old, took off in handcuffs and was caught in the parking area.
* The courthouse is in a shocking state of disrepair overall, but when the Advertiser visited the building on Tuesday last week, a noticeable difference in, at least, the cleanliness of the building, outside and inside, could be seen.
According to a court source, the Advertiser’s recent article on the state of affairs had had a ‘positive’ response which culminated in a visit to the courthouse by DPW representatives.
