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South Africa’s Justice Minister Ronald Lamola has ordered for the release of all persons alleged to have committed petty crimes from police cells.

These offenders would however appear in court on a future date when the coronavirus pandemic goes down.

The order is part of many new regulations relating to court cases and prisons that the minister gazetted on Tuesday.

There are no specific descriptions for what petty crimes were in this instance though but it expected to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

South Africa has been under lockdown since last month and that will last until April 16 to curb the spread of the virus.

The order

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Lamola’s order reads that “Police officials and prosecutors must, where necessary, fix bail in terms of sections 59(1) and 59A(1) of the Criminal Procedure Act and, where necessary, release an accused person on warning.”

He said all criminal trials must be postponed until after the lockdown, except for trials where the “interests of justice dictate otherwise or where special arrangements have been made with the judicial officers involved in the matter”.

The minister also ordered that no awaiting trial detainees in correctional centres and police holding cells may be brought to any court or court precinct, unless for a first appearance, a bail application or where special arrangements were made with judicial officers.

The order further explained that all criminal court cases where the accused are not incarcerated may not be placed on the court roll during the lockdown.

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The minister said new trial dates will be issued, adding that after consultation with Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, he issued the new directives to address, prevent and combat the spread of Covid-19 in all courts, court precincts and justice service points in South Africa.

South Africa has the highest number of coronavirus cases in Africa which stands at 1,353 as at April 1, 2020.

Source: Africafeeds.com