Durban Police Brutality Case: Magistrate and Defence Face Off

The case of 14 Durban police officers accused of the murder, torture, and kidnapping of Regan Naidoo in 2018 was expected to resume with a new magistrate and a further pre-trial conference.

But on Friday morning, the matter was transferred back to the initial presiding officer, Magistrate Mayne Mewalal.

Defence attorney Carl van der Merwe, appearing for most of the accused, told the magistrate that he was ethically obliged to stand down as attorney of record on his client’s instructions.

But, Mewalal disagreed, saying it was in the interests of justice that after years of long delays, the court could reasonably deny the application to change legal representation.

The magistrate also questioned the motive for accused’s decision to change lawyers on the morning they were expected to resume the pre-trial conference.

The standoff between Mewalal and van der Merwe remained unresolved.

The case was postponed until 31 March for a further pre-trial conference with the accused’s new lawyers, if necessary.

Outside court, members of the Naidoo family told GroundUp they were relieved to see the magistrate question the defence’s delay tactics, a concern they had repeatedly voiced for several years.

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