Scorpions’ raid on ex-PE man’s home unlawful
By Lourens Schoeman
Source: The Herald Online
THE Scorpions’ raid on the home of former Port Elizabeth businessman Ronnie Watson was yesterday declared unlawful.
The Sandton house of Mr Watson, youngest brother of Port Elizabeth apartheid-era rugby stars Cheeky, Gavin and Valence Watson, was raided on November 14 last year. The raid was as part of an investigation involving a civil litigation between Durban Roodepoort Deep and Johannesburg businessman Roger Kebble.
Witwatersrand High Court Judge L Goldblatt yesterday ruled that the manner in which the search warrant had been executed had been unlawful and the warrant was set aside.
He also set the decision to authorise the search warrant aside. Judge Goldblatt ordered that all documents and/or tape recordings, as well as copies thereof, seized during the raid, be returned to Mr Watson.
He further prohibited the Minister of Justice, Minister of Safety and Security and the Special Commercial Crimes Unit from using the documentation, or information gleaned from it for any criminal or civil proceedings.
The respondents were also ordered to pay the costs of the application, including the costs of both counsels.
In reaction last night, Mr Watson said the case raised a number of serious concerns.
“Are you in fact safe in your home? When a policeman knocks on your door, are you as a law-abiding citizen entitled to assume that objective and fair justice is being applied to you by a disinterested but effective police force?
“Every man’s home is his castle. When that knock comes on your door, can you trust that the ends being served by the police are legitimate, or must you assume or suspect that he may be there under the guise of a policeman, but actually serving a commercial or personal enemy?
“This case brings to light the very grave concerns that we as citizens should have. That the Bill of Rights and the right to privacy, so hard won since 1994, could be so easily given up and undermined by allowing third parties and individuals, with money, to usurp the powers of the police for their own ends,” he said.
“If this has happened in this case, how many other cases might it have happened in and are we as ordinary citizens entitled to trust in and rely on the objectivity of the police?” Mr Watson asked.
